School Children In Qatar Research Articles

P01-01 The prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity symptoms in school children: A highly consanguineous community

Objective:The objective of the present study was to find the prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity (ADH) symptoms in a highly consanguineous community.Design:A cross sectional study was conducted during October 2006 - January 2007.Subjects and methods:A total of 2500 primary school students, aged 6-12 years were randomly selected from the government primary schools and 1869 students (74.8%) gave consent to participate in this study.Results:Of the students surveyed, 50.7% were boys and 49.3% girls. The data revealed that 158 boys [16.7%; 95%CI (14.4-19.2] and 50 girls [5.4%;95%CI (4.1-7.1)] scored above the cut-off (≥15) for ADH symptoms, thus giving an overall prevalence of [11.1%; 95%CI (9.7-12.6)]. The Children who had higher score for ADH symptoms were in the age group 6-9 years. Children who had higher score for ADH symptoms had school performance poorer than those with lower scores (P=0.002). 200 children (96.2%) with ADH were disobedient, 60.6% noisy and hyperactive, 36.5% very cranky, 37.5% troublesome and 37.9% nervous. The logistic regression identified in our study that socio-economic condition, number of children, school performance and poor relationship between parents were the main contributors for ADH. This shows that the consanguinity has no impact on ADH children.Conclusion:The study revealed that ADH symptoms are found to be a common problem among the school children in Qatar. A significant difference was found between children with and without ADHD for their behaviour.

Breakfast habits and snacks consumed at school among Qatari schoolchildren aged 9‐10 years

PurposeThe objective of this study is to assess breakfast habits and foods mostly consumed as snacks during the school day among fourth grade Qatari schoolchildren.Design/methodology/approachA cross‐sectional survey on a random sample of fourth grade students was carried out using a questionnaire on food frequency, food habits and types of foods consumed in breakfast and during the school day. The study included 259 students, 124 (47.9 per cent) girls and 135 (52.1 per cent) boys aged 9‐10 years.FindingsResults of the study revealed that 91.1 per cent of the boys and 89.5 per cent of the girls ate breakfast daily. Bread and breakfast cereals consumption at breakfast was significantly higher (p = 0.04) among girls (86.3 per cent) compared with boys (76.3 per cent). Cheese and eggs were consumed by 90.7 per cent of the children at breakfast. Sweets and chocolates consumption was significantly higher (p < 0.001) among girls (56.5 per cent) than boys (28.2 per cent). Consumption of bakery items was significantly higher (p = 0.035) among boys (45.9 per cent) compared with girls (33.1 per cent). About 80 per cent of the children consumed potato chips. More boys (80.7 per cent) than girls (48.4 per cent) bought their snacks from school (p < 0.001).Originality/valueThe paper reports some dietary habits among schoolchildren in Qatar that has not been reported before. The paper highlights some positive dietary habits that should be encouraged, e.g. eating breakfast daily, and some negative dietary habits that need to be addressed in nutrition education programs targeting schoolchildren in Qatar, e.g. high consumption of potato chips and low consumption of milk as snacks.

The Prevalence of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Symptoms in Schoolchildren in a Highly Consanguineous Community

Objective: The objective of the present study was to find the prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity (ADH) symptoms in a sample of primary schoolchildren in Qatar and investigate the behaviour of the children with and without ADH symptoms in a highly consanguineous community. Subjects and Methods: A total of 2,500 primary school students, aged 6–12 years, were randomly selected from the government primary schools, and 1,869 students (947 boys and 922 girls) gave consent to participate in this study. An Arabic questionnaire was used to collect the sociodemographic variables and a standardized Arabic version of the Conners’ Teacher Rating Scale for ADH symptoms. Results: Of the 947 boys, 158 (16.7%; 95% confidence interval, CI, 14.4–19.2) and of the 922 girls, 50 (5.4%; 95% CI 4.1–7.1) scored above the cut-off (≧15) for ADH symptoms, thus giving an overall prevalence of 11.1% (95% CI 9.7–12.6). The children who had higher scores for ADH symptoms were in the age group of 6–9 years. Children who had higher scores for ADH symptoms had a poorer school performance than those with lower scores (p = 0.002). Two hundred (96.2%) children with ADH were disobedient, 126 (60.6%) noisy and hyperactive, 76 (36.5%) very cranky, 78 (37.5%) troublesome and 79 (37.9%) nervous. The logistic regression identified socio-economic condition, number of children, school performance and poor relationship between parents as the main contributors to ADH. Although the univariate analysis showed a significant relationship (p = 0.010) between ADH symptoms and consanguineous parents, logistic regression did not support this association (p = 0.075). This suggests that consanguinity has no impact on ADH children. Conclusion: The study revealed that ADH is a common problem among schoolchildren. The children with higher scores for ADH symptoms had a poorer school performance than those with lower scores. A significant difference exists between the behaviour of children with and without ADH.

Anthropometric measurements and dietary habits of schoolchildren in Qatar

Introduction Very little is known about the anthropometric measurements and dietary habits of children in the Arabian Gulf in general, and in Qatar in particular. Objectives To conduct anthropometrics measurements on schoolchildren in Qatar and to explore their dietary habits. Methods A cross-sectional study was carried out, targeting 271 (124 male and 147 female) primary school students. Results Using the body mass index as the index of adiposity, 54.8% and 23.1% of Grade One male and female children were underweight, 3.2% and 8.8% were overweight, and 1.6% and 5.4% were obese, respectively. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner were eaten by 65%, 86%, and 87% on a daily basis. Anthropometric measurements differed significantly (P < 0.05) between genders and the other children of the National Center for Health Statistics population. Conclusion schoolchildren in Qatar may be considered as having less overweight and obesity occurrence than most children in the Gulf.

The Prevalence of ADHD Among Primary School Children in an Arabian Society

Objective: The aim of this study is to identify Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders among primary school children in the State of Qatar. Method: A cross-sectional descriptive study is conducted from March 2004 to February 2005. A total of 2,000 primary school students, ages 6 to 12, are selected, and 1,541 students (77.1%) give consent to participate in this study. An Arabic questionnaire is used to collect the sociodemographic variables and a standardized Arabic version of the Conners’ Classroom Rating Scale for ADHD symptoms. Of the students surveyed, 51.7% are males and 48.3% females. Results: The data reveal that 112 boys (14.1%) and 33 girls (4.4%) scored above the cutoff for ADHD symptoms, thus giving an overall prevalence of 9.4%. Children who have a higher score for ADHD symptoms have school performance poorer than those with lower scores (p = .003). Conclusion: The study reveals that ADHD is found to be a common problem among school children in Qatar.