scholarly journals Waist Circumference, Waist-to-Height Ratio and Body Mass Index as Parameters of Obesity Among Public Secondary School Students

Author(s):  
Ebelechuku Francesca Ugochukwu ◽  
Chinyere Ukamaka Onubogu ◽  
Kenneth Nchekwube Okeke ◽  
Victoria Chikodili Ofora ◽  
Chinenye MaryQueen Uju

Background: Obesity in children is universal affecting all ethnicities, ages, gender and social classes. Public school children consist mainly of the less affluent strata of society, and consequently may not be opportuned to avail themselves of necessary public health interventions as their private school counterparts.          Objective:This study aimed to determine the prevalence of obesity using various anthropometric indices and association of certain factors with obesity among public secondary school students.    Methods:A cross-sectional school-based questionnaire and physical assessment of 593 students aged 10 – 17 years in public schools in Nnewi, Southeast Nigeria was carried out.                                                             Results: There were 289  boys and 304 girls, giving an approximate ratio of 1:1. Most of the students were from the middle and lower socio-economic levels. Girls were physically less active and consumed more junk food than the boys. The mean weight and height varied significantly with age in males, females and both sexes combined together (p <0.001). In general, girls were heavier than boys, while the boys were slightly taller than the girls. Age varied significantly with BMI (P<0.001 for girls and boys), WC (P<0.001 for girls and boys) and WHtR (p=0.034 for boys and 0.024 for girls). BMI performed better than WC and WHtR in identifying children with obesity. When compared with BMI, WC had a sensitivity of 5.2% and a specificity of 100.0% with a positive predictive value of 100.0% and a negative predictive value of 90.7%. WHtR had a sensitivity of 31.0% and a specificity of 99.8% with a positive predictive value of 94.7% and a negative predictive value of 93.0%. BMI had a strong correlation with both WC and WHtR although correlation was stronger with WC (R=704) compared to WHR (R=641). Among the students 9.8% were in the obese/overweight group, made up of 96.6% females, out of which 64.1% were older adolescents aged 15-17 years. Reduced physical activity played a major role in enhancing obesity/overweight, while socio-economic level and diet did not. After logistic regression analysis, age and sex remained significantly associated with being overweight or obese. The odds of being overweight or obese was 32 times in females compared to males and twice in in late adolescence compared to early adolescence.                                                                                                                                      Conclusion:  The obesity/overweight of older adolescent public secondary school girls buttress the importance of physical exercises in curbing obesity. Although easier to perform and very specific, WC and WHtR seemed to miss many adolescents with obesity when compared to BMI.  Therefore, a combination of these indices is recommended while screening adolescents for obesity.

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Md. Nurul ISLAM

Studies on academic achievement worldwide are sporadic, focusing on variables more or less have been taken by the researchers, and provided knowledge. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine how the school effect influences secondary school students' academic achievements by two important significant (study habits and self-esteem). With a covenient sampling method, 400 students from eight secondary schools in Bangladesh were selected for the study. Though the students were equally divided regarding gender (Boys, 200; Girls, 200), they were different regarding school types (Public, 188; Private, 212). Their ages range from 14 to 17, with an average of 14.8. They provided responses on two Bangla version scales: Study Habit Scale and Self-Esteem Scale. Academic achievement was significantly positively correlated with both study habits (r=.268, p<.01) and self-esteem (r=.291,p<.01). Two predictors of the study were also correlated with each other (r=.283, p<.01). Public and private school students were not varied significantly in studying habits and academic achievement, but they were significantly different in self-esteem. The study habits and self-esteem jointly explained 12.3% for public school students' academic achievement whileit explained 7.5% variance for the private school students. The discussion implies that how students’ study habits and self-esteem facilitates their academic achievement.Further studies will reflect more factors influencing academic achievement.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Srijana Panthi ◽  
Hari Prasad Upadhyaya ◽  
Neeti Prasai ◽  
Meera Prasai ◽  
Priya Pathak

Background: Obesity is one of the major public health problems worldwide. The trend has been increasing in lower socioeconomic country like Nepal. Obesity and overweight are prevalent in all age groups and responsible for various health issues. Children and adolescent group are more vulnerable in developing countries like ours. So, this study is aimed to estimate the prevalence of overweight and obesity among secondary school students of Bharatpur-10.                   Methods: It was a cross-sectional study done on class 9 and10 (Two private and two government secondary schools) of Bharatpur-10 Municipality, Chitwan. A predesigned questionnaire was distributed among the students. Weight was recorded by standardized weighing machine and height by metallic measuring tape. Body mass index was calculated by appropriate formula. Results: There were 266 students (55.6% male and 44.6% female) in this study with the mean age of 14.91 years and majority (74.8%) were in age group 13-15 years. 9.77% students were overweight and 3% obese; overweight was prevalent in 8% male and 18% female students, and 6% public and 20% private school students. Students who take snacks during watching television were significantly overweight as compared to those who do not (13.33% vs 6.11%). There was no significant association between overweight and ethnicity/religion, type of family, number of siblings, family history of diabetes, socioeconomic status, food consumption frequency, hours of watching TV or not involving in physical activities in school. Conclusions: This study found a relatively high prevalence of overweight among female students of 13-15 years age group from private school. Also eating snacks during watching television is associated with a higher BMI.  


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 720-727
Author(s):  
O. F. Bamise ◽  

The research evaluated among secondary school students the time spent in reading and the reading materials preferred. The purpose for which they read was also identified. A cross-sectional survey design was adopted which focused on public secondary schools of Osun State, Southwest, Nigeria. A multistage random sampling technique was used to select 1101 senior secondary school students from 12 public schools covering the 6 educational zones of Osun State. A 20 item Reading Habit Scale was used. The questionnaire was administered with the aid of a research assistant and retrieved immediately from the volunteers after completion. One thousand and seventy-nine copies of the questionnaire were analyzed, 43% of the respondents were boys while 57% were girls. Only 18.6% of the respondents were daily long-time readers (>1 to 6 hours per day) which comprised 17% of the boys and 20% of the girls. Boys more than girls read past questions and solutions while girls more than boys read textbooks and subject teachers note. Boys (98%) more than girls (97%) indicated they read in order to get better grades in tests and examinations. Conversely, girls more than the boys read for a better understanding of topics taught by the teacher and for pleasure (84:76%). A statistically significant gender difference exists with respect to “reading for pleasure” (x=8.92, p=0.003). Most of the students have poor reading habits with respect to daily reading time. Girls were more daily long-time readers and also read for pleasure.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Othman ◽  
Nasrin Aghamohammadi ◽  
Nik Daliana Nik Farid

Abstract Background Shisha smoking has re-emerged in the Middle East in the last two decades and has spread rapidly in these communities. Information about shisha smoking in adolescents in Sudan is deficient. Hence, the aim of this study is to estimate the prevalence of shisha smoking among adolescents and determine the associated factors. Methods This study is a school based cross sectional study among secondary school students in Khartoum State - Sudan that targets both male and female students aged 14–17 years. A total of 3387 students from 29 public and private schools were selected by multi stage random sampling. The participants completed an anonymous self-administered questionnaire which was based on Arabic version of the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS). Results The response rate was 100% in schools and among participants, 57.3% were females and 51.6% were from public schools. The overall prevalence of those who had ever smoked shisha was 13.4%, and among male students the prevalence was 16.8%, while it was 10.9% in females. The associated factors were poor academic performance OR 2.90 CI 95% (1.21–6.94), friends smoking shisha OR 2.39 CI 95% (1.65–3.45), friends smoking cigarettes OR 2.76 CI 95% (1.90–4.01), peer pressure to smoke shisha OR 13.76 CI 95% (7.86–24.07) and unexpectedly restriction of selling shisha to minors OR 2.21 CI 95% (1.28–3.82). Conclusion The prevalence of those who had ever smoked shisha is among the lowest in Middle East region; therefore, regular surveillance system is needed. A well-structured peer based comprehensive tobacco control programmes that are supported by strict and rigorous anti-tobacco regulations which control both commercial and social resources of tobacco are needed to contain this issue among adolescents.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nympha Onyinye Enebe ◽  
Joseph Tochukwu Enebe ◽  
Chuka Chike Agunwa ◽  
Edmund Ndudi Ossai ◽  
Uchechukwu Enuma Ezeoke ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Millions of children have been identified globally to be involved in child labour with low-income countries being mostly hit. This study was aimed at assessing child labour and its predictors among public secondary school students in Enugu metropolis. Methods: The study was a descriptive cross-sectional study of 332 junior secondary school students attending public secondary schools in Enugu metropolis, Nigeria. A structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was used for data collection and analyses were done using SPSS version 23 and STATA Software. The level of statistical significance was set at 5% p-value.Results: The prevalence of overall child labour among the respondents was high (71.7%) likewise its different categories: domestic (52.1%) and economic (34.0%) child labour. About 35.2% of the respondents worked under hazardous conditions while 8% were forced to work. Approximately 65% (236) of the respondents who have heard about child labour perceived it as wrong. They mainly worked to render financial assistance to their parents. Class of study (AOR=2.208 (95% CI: 1.199-4.066) and weekly income earned (AOR=0.316 (95% CI: 0.176-0.567) predicted child labour among the respondents. Conclusion: The prevalence of child labour among public secondary schools in Enugu was high and the predictors were the class of the respondents and the weekly income they made. This may imply that child labour in Enugu was driven by poverty as respondents who earned higher were more involved in child labour thereby calling for concerted economic and social reforms to reduce this menace.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Tochukwu Enebe ◽  
Nympha Onyinye Enebe ◽  
Joseph Tochukwu Enebe ◽  
Chuka Chike Agunwa ◽  
Edmund Ndudi Ossai ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Millions of children have been identified globally to be involved in child labour with low-income countries being mostly hit. This study was aimed at assessing child labour and its predictors among public secondary school students in Enugu metropolis. Methods The study was a descriptive cross-sectional study of 332 junior secondary school students attending public secondary schools in Enugu metropolis, Nigeria. A structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was used for data collection and analyses were done using SPSS version 23 and STATA Software. The level of statistical significance was set at 5% p-value. Results The prevalence of overall child labour among the respondents was high (71.7%) likewise its different categories: domestic (52.1%) and economic (34.0%) child labour. About 35.2% of the respondents worked under hazardous conditions while 8% were forced to work. Approximately 65% (236) of the respondents who had heard about child labour perceived it as wrong. They mainly worked to render financial assistance to their parents. Class of study (AOR = 2.208 (95% CI: 1.199–4.066) and weekly income earned (AOR = 0.316 (95% CI: 0.176–0.567) predicted child labour among the respondents. Conclusion The prevalence of child labour among public secondary schools in Enugu was high and the predictors were the class of the respondents and the weekly income they made. This may imply that child labour in Enugu was driven by poverty as respondents who earned higher were more involved in child labour thereby calling for concerted economic and social reforms to reduce this menace.


Author(s):  
Mustefa Jibril

The main aim of this study was to assess problem solving performance in physics of grade 9th students. A test of reasoning was administered to a sample of 578 students. The results show differential performance of the students. Question based performance with background variable as school sector shows that performance of private school students was significantly better than students of public schools. Similarly female private school students performed well than male private school students.


2021 ◽  
pp. 803-809
Author(s):  
Abbas Musa ◽  
Muhammad Garba Magaji ◽  
Raliya Muhammad Bello

Background: Pharmacists play prominent roles in the health care system and enjoy a wide variety of inter-related careers, placing them among the high-ranking health professionals. Aim: To assess the awareness of pharmacy as a career among secondary school students in the Zaria and Giwa educational zones of Kaduna State, Nigeria. Method: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in secondary schools located in the Zaria and Giwa educational zones in Kaduna state, Nigeria; a sample of 278 students completed a 26-item questionnaire. Results: The respondents displayed a fair knowledge of pharmacy (mean score of 9.8 out of 20), with significant differences in awareness observed between males and females (p=0.026), students from private and public schools (p<0.001), and those from schools located in urban and rural areas (p<0.001). Conclusion: The students had a fair knowledge of pharmacy careers and pharmacists' roles and characteristics.


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