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Body mass index and potential correlates among elementary school children in Jordan

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Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Childhood obesity and overweight are on the rise worldwide, and Jordanian children are no exception to this rule. Childhood Obesity has major implications on the physical and mental health of individuals, and it can often develop into adult obesity. Obesity/overweight correlates have not been researched extensively in the Middle East region, where Jordan is central. This region is undergoing tremendous changes because of wars, globalization, and the influx of refugees. The cultural and eating habits of the people are changing along with demographical changes. Thus, timely research is required to assess the current health state of this dynamic society. The main goal of this study is to understand the environmental and cultural factors that are associated with Body Mass Index (BMI) z score in elementary school children in Jordan.

Methods

A total of 1260 children enrolled in this descriptive, cross-sectional study. The study used a parental self-reporting questionnaire that contains possible factors associated with BMI, zBMI, demographics, and other pertinent information.

Results

Several factors have been associated with higher zBMI among elementary school children: if a child owns a smartphone (p = 0.0037), uses electronics to play (\(p=0.0301\)), uses electronics for longer hours (\(p=0.0065\)), eats food while using electronics or watching TV (\(p<0.0001\) and \(p=0.0304\), respectively), sleeps less hours in weekends (\(p=0.0051\)), was breastfed for lower number of months (\(p=0.0067\)), lives in rural areas (\(p=0.0126\)), goes to a private school (\(p=0.0344\)) and is a male (\(p=0.0069\)).

Conclusion

Investigating characteristics and environmental determinants of childhood obesity play an essential role in establishing effective intervention program and reduce future risks of morbidity.

Level of evidence

Level V, descriptive (cross-sectional) study.

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Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available as supplementary material with this paper.

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Funding

This work was supported by Jordan University of Science and Technology, Deanship of Research, award number 20190042.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Engineering, Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST), P.O. Box 3030, Irbid, 22110, Jordan

    Mohammad Fraiwan

  2. Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST), P.O. Box 3030, Irbid, 22110, Jordan

    Fidaa Almomani

  3. Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST), P.O. Box 3030, Irbid, 22110, Jordan

    Hanan Hammouri

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  1. Mohammad Fraiwan
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Contributions

All of the authors have read and approved the manuscript. MF: manuscript writing, project conception proposal and funding, data acquisition. FA: survey design, and data acquisition, and critical revision of manuscript draft. HH: statistical analysis and data interpretation.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mohammad Fraiwan.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

The current study (Ref. 99/118/2018) was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at King Abdullah University Hospital, Deanship of Scientific Research at Jordan University of Science and Technology in Jordan, and the Jordanian Ministry of Education and relevant educational districts.

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Parents signed consent forms accepting their child’s participation.

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Fraiwan, M., Almomani, F. & Hammouri, H. Body mass index and potential correlates among elementary school children in Jordan. Eat Weight Disord 26, 629–638 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-020-00899-3

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