Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Paper
  • Published:

Profile of body composition of school children (6–18 y) in Bahrain

International Journal of Obesity volume 24, pages 1093–1096 (2000)Cite this article

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To study the body composition of Bahraini school children.

DESIGN: Cross-sectional national school survey.

SUBJECTS: School children aged 6–18 y. The sample comprised 818 boys and 775 girls.

MEASUREMENTS: Weight, height, arm circumference and skinfold thicknesses were measured. Sum of skinfold thickness, body mass index (BMI), mid arm circumference, percentage body fat, fat weight and lean body weight were then calculated to determine body composition.

RESULTS: A significant difference in the sum of skinfold thickness was observed between boys and girls. The girls have almost 50% extra skinfold thickness than boys at all ages. Similar trends were found in BMI, except at ages 9 and 18 y. The percentage of body fat was higher in girls than boys. The mean BMI for Bahraini girls aged 13 y and above exceeds that of their American counterparts, indicating a trend towards fat accumulation in the Bahraini girls.

CONCLUSION: The data obtained are useful for monitoring obesity in school children in Bahrain as well as being usable as reference data for similar countries in the region. The high proportion of body fat among Bahraini school children, especially girls, urges an intervention program to prevent and control obesity in this age group.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Musaiger AO, Miladi S . Diet-related non-communicable diseases in the Arab countries of the Gulf FAO/RNE: Cairo, Egypt 1996.

  2. WHO . Diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases Technical Report Series no. 797. WHO: Geneva 1990.

  3. Serdula MK, Ivery D, Coates RJ, Freedman DS, Williamson DF and Byers T . Do obese children become obese adults? A review of the literature Prev Med 1993 22: 167–177.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Eid N, Al-Hooti S, Bourisly N, Khalafawi M . Nutritional anthropometric of school children in Kuwait Nutr Report Int 1986 33: 253–260.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Musaiger AO, Gregory WB, Haas JD . Growth patterns of school children in Bahrain Ann Hum Biol 1989 16: 155–167.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Al-Shoshan A . Growth patterns of selected primary school children in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Saudi Med J 1993 14: 53–58.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Musaiger AO, Gregory WB . Height, weight, arm circumference and skinfold thickness of Bahraini children aged 6–18 y Arab Nutrition Society: Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates 1997.

  8. Jelliffe DB . Assessment of the nutritional status of the community World Health Organization: Geneva 1966.

  9. Gibson RS . Principles of nutritional assessment Oxford University Press: New York 1990.

  10. McArdle WD, Katch FI, Katch VL . Exercise physiology Lea & Febiger: Philadelphia, PA 1986.

  11. Musaiger AO, Matter AM, El-Ekri SA, Mahdi AE . Obesity among secondary school students in Bahrain Nutr Health 1993 9: 25–32.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Central Statistics Organization (CSO) . Statistical Abstracts 1981–1997 Bahrain 1998.

  13. Musaiger AO . Nutritional status and dietary habits of adolescent girls in Oman Ecol Food Nutr 1994 31: 227–237.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Abahussain NA, Musaiger AO, Nicholls PJ, Stevens R . Nutritional status of adolescent girls in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia Nutr Health 1999 13: 171–177.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Must A, Dallal GE, Dietz WH . Reference data for obesity: 85th and 95th percentiles of body mass index (wt/ht2) and triceps skinfold thickness Am J Clin Nutr 1991 53: 839–849.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Moussa MAA, Skaik MB, Selwanes SB, Yaghy OY, Bin-Othman SA . Contribution of body fat and fat patterns to blood level in school children Eur J Clin Nutr 1994 48: 587–590.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Frisancho AR . New norms of upper limb fat and muscle areas for assessment of nutritional status Am J Clin Nutr 1981 34: 2540–2545.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Blair D, Gregory WB . The nutrition status of Bahraini school girls aged 7–18 y Bahrain Sport Institute: Bahrain 1985.

  19. Zaghloul NE, El-Sherbini AF, Al-Shayeb FA . Dietary factors and physical activity of obese and non-obese adolescents Bull High Inst Publ Hlth 1984 14: 31–49.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental and Biological Programme, Bahrain Center for Studies and Research, PO Box 496, Manama, Bahrain

    AO Musaiger

  2. Sport Medicine Unit, Bahrain Defense Hospital, Bahrain

    WB Gregory

Authors
  1. AO Musaiger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. WB Gregory
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Musaiger, A., Gregory, W. Profile of body composition of school children (6–18 y) in Bahrain. Int J Obes 24, 1093–1096 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0801371

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0801371

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links