Saudi Cultural Missions Theses & Dissertations

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    Effectiveness of childhood obesity prevention interventions in the Middle East. A systematic review
    (Saudi Digital Library, 2023-11-28) Alsaadi, Ghadeer; Papadaki, Angeliki
    Introduction Childhood obesity is considered a critical health concern in the Middle East due to its escalating prevalence and adverse impact on the community. To address this epidemic, this review aims to assess the effectiveness of school-based interventions conducted in the Middle East on obesity- related outcomes, physical activity levels, and dietary habits and evaluate the interventions’ cost-effectiveness analyses where data are available. Methods This systematic review conducted an electronic comprehensive search on the 2nd of June, 2023, using the databases PubMed, Embase, Medline, and Web of Science. School-based interventions, both single and multi-component, utilising a randomised control trial study design, implemented among primary school-aged children or adolescents aged 4-19 years old, assessing (BMI, body fat percentage, waist circumference, physical activity levels, or dietary habits) as the intervention’s targeted outcomes, and conducted in the Middle East were included in this review. Results Seven RCTs were examined in this review, of which five had dietary and physical activity components; one was a dietary intervention, and the last was a physical activity intervention. All assessed RCTs effectively reported at least one positive finding of the school-based intervention on the targeted outcomes. Post- intervention between-group differences were found in the likelihood of changing to normal weight status, improved nutritional quality, increased physical activity levels, and reduced weight. Additionally, intervention groups reported physical activity levels increase, dietary habits improvement, a reduction in the likelihood of being overweight or obese, a reduction in BMI Z-score, and a reduction in waist circumference. Post-intervention self-efficacy and nutritional knowledge increased in the intervention groups (p<0.001), which served as potential mediators. Conclusion Overall, findings from this review support the promising effects of school-based interventions on improving obesity-related outcomes, physical activity levels, and dietary habits. Further studies should be conducted to confirm the findings while measuring the intervention’s cost-effectiveness analysis.
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    The Association Between Lifestyle Behaviour, including Physical Activity and Dietary Habits, and their relationship with Hypertension in a UK Population Sample
    (Saudi Digital Library, 2023-08-14) Fakeeh, Mohammed; Nicholl, Barbara
    Background: high blood pressure is a crucial contributor to the development of cardiovascular disease and a significant public health concern that affects millions of people globally. There has been growing discussion about hypertension among adults and the role that lifestyle factors play in this condition. There is a high level of physical inactivity and poor dietary choices in the United Kingdom (UK), both of which might contribute to hypertension. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the association between lifestyle factors – including physical activity and dietary habits – and sociodemographic factors and their associations with high blood pressure using a UK Biobank sample. Methods: Participants from the UK Biobank were included (N = 230,087) who had self- reported hypertension. The chi-squared test was utilised for categorical variables and the Mann–Whitney U test was utilised for continuous variables to compare dietary, sociodemographic and physical activity-related variables between groups with and without hypertension. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to establish whether there was an association between hypertension (the dependent variable) and physical activity and dietary habits, including the consumption of tea, coffee, beef, salt added to food, raw salad and vegetables (the independent variables). We then adjusted for a wide range of potential covariates (age, sex, Townsend scale score, body mass index (BMI), smoking status and alcohol consumption). The analysis was carried out using R software (v. 4.2.1). Results: The findings indicate an association between hypertension and physically active individuals compared to those reporting low physical activity levels (odds ratio (OR): 1.13, 95% confidence interval (CI) (1.10–1.16), p < 0.001). In contrast, dietary habits varied. Tea and beef consumption were found to have significant associations with hypertension ((OR tea – light to moderate: 1.05, 95% CI (1.02–1.09), p = 0.002); OR beef – once a week: 1.10, 95% CI (1.06– 1.14), p < 0.001), while consumption of coffee and salt added to food had negative associations with hypertension ((OR coffee – light to moderate: 0.90, 95% CI (0.88–0.93), p < 0.001); OR salt –usually: 0.82, 95% CI (0.80–0.84), p < 0.001). The analysis of sociodemographic factors revealed that older people and males were likelier to experience hypertension than younger people and females, respectively ((OR age – 60–71 years: 4.09, 95% CI (3.96–4.22) p < 0.001); (OR sex – male: 1.34, 95% CI (1.32–1.37), p < 0.001). On the Townsend scale, those in quintiles Q3–Q5 had greater exposure to hypertension than those in quintile Q1-Q2 (OR: 1.09, 95% CI (1.04–1.14), p = 0.001). Overweight and obese people and smokers were significantly likelier to experience hypertension than those with a healthy weight ((OR BMI – overweight: 1.91, 95% CI (1.86–1.97), p < 0.001); OR BMI – obese: 4.14, 95% CI (4.02–4.26), p < 0.001) and those who never smoked (OR smoking – previous: 1.11, 95% CI (1.09–1.14), p < 0.001). Finally, the consumption of raw salad, vegetables and alcohol demonstrated no significant associations with hypertension. Conclusion: This study highlights the associations between lifestyle behaviours, including physical activity and dietary habits, and their relationships with hypertension in a sample from the UK Biobank. Evidently, lifestyle behaviours are crucial to hypertension. However, some associations emerged in unexpected directions, suggesting that further research in this area should be conducted using longitudinal data.
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