Prevalence and Associated Risk Factors of Childhood Obesity and Overweight in Erbil City, Kurdistan, Iraq: A Household Survey

Sabah Shareef Mohammed; Sherzad Abdulahad Shabu  Shabu

doi:10.24017/science.2024.1.1

Authors

Sabah Shareef Mohammed Darbandikhan Technical Institute, Sulaimani Polytechnic University, Sulaimani, Iraq | Community Medicine, College of Medicine, Hawler Medical University, Erbil, Iraq https://orcid.org/0009-0008-3654-1227
Sherzad Abdulahad Shabu Community Medicine, College of Medicine, Hawler Medical University, Erbil, Iraq https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8887-106X

Abstract

The prevalence of overweight and obesity has increased dramatically during the last three decades. It is estimated that 170 million youngsters (under the age of 18) worldwide are overweight. Obesity is commonly regarded as one of the most significant public health problems of the early 21st century due to its rapid rise and severe public health consequences. According to previous research, the prevalence rate of obesity and overweight increased in Erbil. This study aims to determine the prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity rates in Erbil. This study was a household survey based on a cross-sectional study that was conducted, and a multi-stage sampling strategy was used to choose the study sample. A questionnaire was conducted to collect the data, SPSS was used for analysing the data, and Chi-square (X²), was used to identify any kind of association between different variables in the study, whereas the p-value was considered (0.05). Regarding ethical approval, the study was conducted under the guidelines of the ethical approval research committee in the College of Medicine. In this research, the prevalence rate of obesity and overweight was 30.4%, 7.7% of them were obese, and 22.7% were overweight. The obesity rates between males and females were not different. Lifestyle and habit had an impact on increasing weight gain, though the number of meals, outside eating, fast foods, and snacks between meals were statistically not significant. However, eating without hunger was significant the p-value was (0.008). On the other hand, the children's habit of using electronic devices, smartphones, and other devices was significant, either using their mobile phone or their parent's phone. In conclusion, in Erbil city, the prevalence rate of obesity and overweight was dramatically increased, as well as the lifestyle factor that contributed to the development of these conditions, especially among those children exposed to multi-screen devices. According to these results, families have to improve their lifestyles and decrease the use of electrical devices by children.

Keywords:

Obesity, Overweight, Body mass index (BMI), Children, weight gain

References

H. Ranjani et al., Epidemiology of childhood overweight & obesity in India: A systematic review , Indian J. Med. Res., vol. 143, no. FEBRUARY, pp. 160–174, 2016, doi: 10.4103/0971-5916.180203. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/0971-5916.180203

W. Ahrens et al., Prevalence of overweight and obesity in European children below the age of 10 , Int. J. Obes., vol. 38, pp. S99–S107, 2014, doi: 10.1038/ijo.2014.140. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2014.140

G. Egger and J. Dixon, Beyond obesity and lifestyle: A review of 21st century chronic disease determinants , Biomed Res. Int., vol. 2014, 2014, doi: 10.1155/2014/731685. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/731685

T. Shah, G. Purohit, S. P. Nair, B. Patel, Y. Rawal, and R. M. Shah, Assessment of obesity, overweight and its association with the fast food consumption in medical students , J. Clin. Diagnostic Res., vol. 8, no. 5, pp. 5–7, 2014, doi: 10.7860/JCDR/2014/7908.4351. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7860/JCDR/2014/7908.4351

T. Omer, The causes of obesity: an in-depth review , Adv. Obesity, Weight Manag. Control, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 90–94, 2020, doi: 10.15406/aowmc.2020.10.00312. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15406/aowmc.2020.10.00312

M. Di Cesare et al., La carga epidemiológica de la obesidad infantil: Una epidemia mundial que requiere medidas urgentes , BMC Med., vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 1–20, 2019, [Online]. Available: https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12916-019-1449-8

S. Licher et al., Lifetime risk and multimorbidity of non-communicable diseases and disease-free life expectancy in the general population: A population-based cohort study , PLoS Med., vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 1–17, 2019, doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1002741. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002741

R. L. Kolotkin and J. R. Andersen, A systematic review of reviews: exploring the relationship between obesity, weight loss and health-related quality of life , Clin. Obes., vol. 7, no. 5, pp. 273–289, 2017, doi: 10.1111/cob.12203. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/cob.12203

J. M. Moreno Villares, Stigma experienced by children and adolescents with obesity , Acta Pediatr. Esp., vol. 76, no. 3–4, p. 63, 2018, doi: 10.1542/9781610022781-stigma. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1542/9781610022781-stigma

N. K. Güngör, Overweight and obesity in children and adolescents , JCRPE J. Clin. Res. Pediatr. Endocrinol., vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 129–143, 2014, doi: 10.4274/jcrpe.1471. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4274/jcrpe.1471

S. Al-Ghamdi et al., Prevalence of overweight and obesity based on the body mass index; A cross-sectional study in Alkharj, Saudi Arabia , Lipids Health Dis., vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 1–8, 2018, doi: 10.1186/s12944-018-0778-5. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12944-018-0778-5

F. Abd and A. Redha, Overweight and Obesity among Children under 18 year attended Nutritional Clinic in AL-Diwaniyah Governorate, Iraq, 2016 , Univ. Thi-Qar J. Med., no. 1, 2019, doi: 10.32792/utq/utjmed/13/1/5. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32792/utq/utjmed/13/1/5

S. Devina, K. Bhagyapreet, and R. K. Verma, Impact of excessive watching television on health and nutritional status among suburban children , Res. J. Fam. Consum. Sci., vol. 2, no. 9, pp. 1–4, 2014.

M. A. Almuhanna, M. Alsaif, M. Alsaadi, and A. Almajwal, Fast food intake and prevalence of obesity in school children in Riyadh City. , Sudan. J. Paediatr., vol. 14, no.

Overweight and obesity associated factors among high school students: A cross sectional study in Erbil , Medico-Legal Updat., vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 1296–1301, 2020, doi: 10.37506/v20/il/2020/mlu/194481.

S. A. Shabu, PREVALENCE OF CHILDHOOD OBESITY AMONG A SAMPLE OF BASIC EDUCATION SCHOOL CHILDREN IN ERBIL CITY Submitted to the Council of the College of Medicine at Hawler Medical University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science , 2009.

S. Soltani, A. Jayedi, S. Abdollahi, A. A. Vasmehjani, F. Meshkini, and S. Shab-Bidar, Effect of carbohydrate restriction on body weight in overweight and obese adults: a systematic review and dose–response meta-analysis of 110 randomized controlled trials , Front. Nutr., vol. 10, no. December, pp. 1–12, 2023, doi: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1287987. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2023.1287987

H. O. Ahmed et al., The life styles causing overweight or obesity: Based on 5 years of experience in two centers in Sulaimani Governorate, Kurdistan Region/Iraq , Int. J. Surg. Open, vol. 11, pp. 22–29, 2018, doi: 10.1016/j.ijso.2018.04.002. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijso.2018.04.002

M. Pearce, I. Bray, and M. Horswell, Weight gain in mid-childhood and its relationship with the fast food environment , J. Public Heal. (United Kingdom), vol. 40, no. 2, pp. 237–244, 2018, doi: 10.1093/pubmed/fdx108. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdx108

C. Wolf, S. Wolf, M. Weiss, and G. Nino, Children s environmental health in the digital era: Understanding early screen exposure as a preventable risk factor for obesity and sleep disorders , Children, vol. 5, no. 2, Feb. 2018, doi: 10.3390/children5020031. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/children5020031

A. A. Ramírez-Coronel et al., Childhood obesity risk increases with increased screen time: a systematic review and dose–response meta-analysis , J. Heal. Popul. Nutr., vol. 42, no. 1, pp. 1–14, 2023, doi: 10.1186/s41043-022-00344-4. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s41043-023-00432-z

A. Almaqhawi, A. Alkhateeb, A. K. AlHussain, K. S. Alqahtani, A. K. Aldrweesh, and S. A. Aljarri, Prevalence and Associated Risk Factors of Childhood Obesity in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia , Cureus, vol. 14, no. 10, pp. 1–10, 2022, doi: 10.7759/cureus.30015. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.30015

Y. Fatima, S. A. R. Doi, and A. Al Mamun, Sleep problems in adolescence and overweight/obesity in young adults: is there a causal link? , Sleep Heal., vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 154–159, Apr. 2018, doi: 10.1016/j.sleh.2018.01.002. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2018.01.002

R. Rogers et al., The Relationship between Childhood Obesity, Low Socioeconomic Status, and Race/Ethnicity: Lessons from Massachusetts , Child. Obes., vol. 11, no. 6, pp. 691–695, 2015, doi: 10.1089/chi.2015.0029. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1089/chi.2015.0029

R. Hardy, N. Kliemann, T. Evansen, and J. Brand, Relationship Between Energy Drink Consumption and Nutrition Knowledge in Student-Athletes , J. Nutr. Educ. Behav., vol. 49, no. 1, pp. 19-26.e1, 2017, doi: 10.1016/j.jneb.2016.08.008. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2016.08.008