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Abnormal Weight Among University Students in the Kingdom of Bahrain (2018): Prevalence, Factors, Predictions, and Recommendations

Received: 23 August 2018     Accepted: 7 September 2018     Published: 12 October 2018
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Abstract

Over the past two decades, the Kingdom of Bahrain has seen an increase in weight in a growing number of people. Experts in the field determined that it is due to a lack of exercise and poor dietary habits. The problem has reached extremely high records of obesity; 37% for females and 30% for males. The statistics were based on a cross-sectional study of 414 volunteers at a local shopping mall. The goal of this primary data analysis was to determine the current prevalence of weight abnormalities. The findings were used to predict the trend of such abnormalities among the sub-population of university students in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The analysis, done in 2018, was based on 1,100 surveys collected from subjects in the central universities in the Kingdom of Bahrain including the University of Bahrain, Ahlia University, University of Bahrain, Arabian Gulf University, Applied Science University, AMM International University, Arab Open University, and Bahrain Polytechnic. The research was conducted over a period of several months. The authors developed surveys in both Arabic and English and randomly selected participants aged between eighteen and twenty-five among full-time students from major universities in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The standards of these weight issues, including obesity, overweight and underweight issues were determined with the use of the International Classification Index, a diagnostic tool used for health management. It is managed and prescribed by the World Health Organization. Based on the Chi-square test, the results strongly depended on the gender, age, and the extent of exercise performed on a weekly basis. As a result, a multinomial logistic regression involving these factors was used to compare the trends and predict the highest and lowest probabilities of each abnormal weight. For example, the male students, aged twenty-two or older who exercise less than one hour a week, were the most likely to be obese and overweight; about 20% and 42% chance, respectively. However, the students most probable to be underweight (about 11%) were those females; aged eighteen or nineteen who exercise less than one hour a week.

Published in American Journal of Internal Medicine (Volume 6, Issue 6)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajim.20180606.12
Page(s) 152-160
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2018. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

BMI, The Kingdom of Bahrain, Multinomial Logistic Regression Model, Obesity, Overweight, Prevalence, Underweight, University Students

References
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[6] World Health Organization. The Constitution of the World Health Organization (1948). Retrieved from: http://www.who.int/about/mission/en/.
[7] Regional Health Systems Observatory- EMRO (2007). Health System Profile - Bahrain. Retrieved from: http://apps.who.int/medicinedocs/documents/s17291e/s17291e.pdf.
[8] World Health Organization. Obesity; preventing and managing the global epidemic (2007). Report of a WHO Consultation on Obesity.
[9] Goettler A., Grosse A., Sonntag D. Productivity Loss Due to Overweight and Obesity: A Systematic Review of Indirect Costs (2017). BMJ Open, 7, e014632. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2016-014632.
[10] Central Bank of Bahrain. Economic Report (2007). Retrieved from: https://www.cbb.gov.bh/assets/E%20R/Economic%20Report%202007%20ENG.pdf.
[11] World Data Atlas. Bahrain (2015). Retrieved from: https://knoema.com/atlas.
[12] Hubail A., R. & Culligan K. G. Current Prospectus on Obesity in Bahrain and Determination of Percentage Body Fat Range (2012). Bahrain Medical Bulletin 34 (1). Retrieved from: http://www.bahrainmedicalbulletin.com/march_2012/Current_Prospectus_Obesity.pdf.
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[17] Bagherniya M., Taghipour A., Sharma M., Sahebkar A., Contento I., R., Keshavarz S., A. Obesity Intervention Programs among Adolescents Using Social Cognitive Theory: ASystematic Literature Review (2018). HEALTH EDUCATION RESEARCH 33 (1).
[18] Ministry of Health of Bahrain. National Non-Communicable Diseases Risk Factors Survey (2007). Retrieved from:http://www.who.int/ncds/surveillance/steps/2007_STEPS_Survey_Bahrain.pdf.
[19] World Health Organization. Nutrition in Adolescence: Issues and Challenges for the Health Sector: Issues in Adolescent Health and Development (2004). WHO Discussion Paper on Adolescence.
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Nizar Jaoua, Alexander Woodman, Majeed Amini. (2018). Abnormal Weight Among University Students in the Kingdom of Bahrain (2018): Prevalence, Factors, Predictions, and Recommendations. American Journal of Internal Medicine, 6(6), 152-160. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajim.20180606.12

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    ACS Style

    Nizar Jaoua; Alexander Woodman; Majeed Amini. Abnormal Weight Among University Students in the Kingdom of Bahrain (2018): Prevalence, Factors, Predictions, and Recommendations. Am. J. Intern. Med. 2018, 6(6), 152-160. doi: 10.11648/j.ajim.20180606.12

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    AMA Style

    Nizar Jaoua, Alexander Woodman, Majeed Amini. Abnormal Weight Among University Students in the Kingdom of Bahrain (2018): Prevalence, Factors, Predictions, and Recommendations. Am J Intern Med. 2018;6(6):152-160. doi: 10.11648/j.ajim.20180606.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajim.20180606.12,
      author = {Nizar Jaoua and Alexander Woodman and Majeed Amini},
      title = {Abnormal Weight Among University Students in the Kingdom of Bahrain (2018): Prevalence, Factors, Predictions, and Recommendations},
      journal = {American Journal of Internal Medicine},
      volume = {6},
      number = {6},
      pages = {152-160},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajim.20180606.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajim.20180606.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajim.20180606.12},
      abstract = {Over the past two decades, the Kingdom of Bahrain has seen an increase in weight in a growing number of people. Experts in the field determined that it is due to a lack of exercise and poor dietary habits. The problem has reached extremely high records of obesity; 37% for females and 30% for males. The statistics were based on a cross-sectional study of 414 volunteers at a local shopping mall. The goal of this primary data analysis was to determine the current prevalence of weight abnormalities. The findings were used to predict the trend of such abnormalities among the sub-population of university students in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The analysis, done in 2018, was based on 1,100 surveys collected from subjects in the central universities in the Kingdom of Bahrain including the University of Bahrain, Ahlia University, University of Bahrain, Arabian Gulf University, Applied Science University, AMM International University, Arab Open University, and Bahrain Polytechnic. The research was conducted over a period of several months. The authors developed surveys in both Arabic and English and randomly selected participants aged between eighteen and twenty-five among full-time students from major universities in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The standards of these weight issues, including obesity, overweight and underweight issues were determined with the use of the International Classification Index, a diagnostic tool used for health management. It is managed and prescribed by the World Health Organization. Based on the Chi-square test, the results strongly depended on the gender, age, and the extent of exercise performed on a weekly basis. As a result, a multinomial logistic regression involving these factors was used to compare the trends and predict the highest and lowest probabilities of each abnormal weight. For example, the male students, aged twenty-two or older who exercise less than one hour a week, were the most likely to be obese and overweight; about 20% and 42% chance, respectively. However, the students most probable to be underweight (about 11%) were those females; aged eighteen or nineteen who exercise less than one hour a week.},
     year = {2018}
    }
    

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    AB  - Over the past two decades, the Kingdom of Bahrain has seen an increase in weight in a growing number of people. Experts in the field determined that it is due to a lack of exercise and poor dietary habits. The problem has reached extremely high records of obesity; 37% for females and 30% for males. The statistics were based on a cross-sectional study of 414 volunteers at a local shopping mall. The goal of this primary data analysis was to determine the current prevalence of weight abnormalities. The findings were used to predict the trend of such abnormalities among the sub-population of university students in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The analysis, done in 2018, was based on 1,100 surveys collected from subjects in the central universities in the Kingdom of Bahrain including the University of Bahrain, Ahlia University, University of Bahrain, Arabian Gulf University, Applied Science University, AMM International University, Arab Open University, and Bahrain Polytechnic. The research was conducted over a period of several months. The authors developed surveys in both Arabic and English and randomly selected participants aged between eighteen and twenty-five among full-time students from major universities in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The standards of these weight issues, including obesity, overweight and underweight issues were determined with the use of the International Classification Index, a diagnostic tool used for health management. It is managed and prescribed by the World Health Organization. Based on the Chi-square test, the results strongly depended on the gender, age, and the extent of exercise performed on a weekly basis. As a result, a multinomial logistic regression involving these factors was used to compare the trends and predict the highest and lowest probabilities of each abnormal weight. For example, the male students, aged twenty-two or older who exercise less than one hour a week, were the most likely to be obese and overweight; about 20% and 42% chance, respectively. However, the students most probable to be underweight (about 11%) were those females; aged eighteen or nineteen who exercise less than one hour a week.
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Author Information
  • Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

  • Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University & Saudi Commission for Health Specialties, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

  • Department of Mathematical Sciences, Ahlia University, College of Arts and Science, Manama, the Kingdom of Bahrain

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