Impact of adolescents’ life style and reasons of skipping essential meals upon their BMI at secondary schools in Baghdad city

Abstract

Background: Excessive harmful and unhealthy weight-control behaviors have potential serious consequences due to impact on their life style. Specifically dieting is considered a major risk factor for eating disorders. Unhealthy dieting can also decrease intake of energy and essential nutrients. Objective: The study aimed to identify the adolescents’ lifestyle, and reasons of skipping essential meals and find out the relationship between adolescents’ lifestyle and reasons of skipping essential meals and their demographic data (gender and Body Mass Index). Methodology: A descriptive study design was conducted on impact of lifestyle and reasons of skipping essential meals upon adolescents’ Body Mass Index in secondary schools at Baghdad city, starting from 20th of April 2013 to the end of October 2014. Non-probability (purposive) sample of 1254 adolescents were chosen from secondary schools of both sides of Al-Karkh and Al-Russafa sectors. Data was collected through a specially constructed questionnaire format include (20) items multiple choice questions. The validity of the questionnaire was determined through a panel of experts related to the field of the study, and the reliability through a pilot study. The data were analyzed through the application of descriptive statistical analysis frequency, & percentages, and inferential statistical analysis, chi-square, are used. Results: Regarding the gender, finding indicates that males and females (48.7, and 51.3%) respectively, were approximately equal, and the result study samples find more than one forth BMI were almost equal in under and normal weight percentile (27.8%, and 27.8%) respectively, they spent mostly time (5 hours and more) in watching TV, and use the computer for playing games, and sometimes eat during watching TV or playing computer games. Adolescents’ gender has highly significant association with times sharing with physical activity per week but the other items have no significant association. Adolescents’ Body Mass Index has highly significant association with their lifestyle. Adolescents’ gender has highly significant association with the reasons of skipping breakfast meal and the adolescents’ Body Mass Index have no significant association with the reasons of skipping meals.