Effects of Late Preterm Birth on Motor, Cognitive and Behavioral Development on Saudi Children at Age of Two Years

Abstract

Background: Obesity is a major issue in Saudi Arabia which impact the individuals’ life as well as the community as a whole. As the adolescents is a critical period which may affect the adulthood, studying adolescents’ obesity which has multiple risk factors and affecting many domains of adolescents’ is highly needed. The purpose of the present study was to report the effects of obesity in adolescents’ physical activity, self-esteem, fatigue and sleeping quality Methods: A school-based cross sectional study involving 330 adolescents (age 14-18) from Riyadh, 51.5% were females. 48.5% of them with obesity and the rest were with normal body weight. BMI were considered based on BMI-for-age percentiles for specific gender. Each participant filled the following questionnaires: the Arab Teens Lifestyle Study, The Arabic version of The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, The Arabic Version of Fatigue Severity Scale and Adolescents Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index – Arabic. Results: Adolescents with obesity has significantly lower physical activity (P = 0.030), less physical activity time (P = 0.020), low self-esteem (P = 0.001) than those with normal body weight. Sleeping hours, sleeping quality and fatigue did not show significant differences between the two BMI groups. Majority of adolescents has sedentary behaviours (85.6% of males and 91.2% of females), females were spending significantly more time on screen than males. Unhealthy dietary habits have significant difference among the two BMI groups. Conclusions: Physical activity, self-esteem and healthy/unhealthy dietary habits were different in the two BMI groups. Sedentary behaviour is a major issue among Saudi adolescents. There is an urgent need for an actual plan to enhance healthy lifestyle among Saudi adolescents in order to minimize the obesity among them and reduce its consequences.