The prevalence of overweight and obesity among high school military recruits in Jordan (1997-1998)‎

Abstract EN

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of overweight and obesity among high school males with the aim of introducing early measures to increase awareness among the study population. Methods: As part of screening and examination of male military recruits, all subjects at the high school (Tawjihi) who applied for enrollment had their height and weight measured to the nearest 0.5 centimeter (cm), and 1 kilogram (kg), respectively.

Body mass index was calculated as weight (kg)/ height2 (meters). Results: The number of applicants who completed the measurements for height and weight was 6185 students.

The total number of applications received during the year 1997-1998 was 9079 (20% of all high school males).

Their age ranged between 17-19 years.

They spanned all the governorates of Jordan.

According to World Health Organization (WHO) definitions, 19.7% of the sample had a body mass index between 14- 18.9 kg/m2, 64% had a BMI of 19- 24.9 kg/m2.

The prevalence of overweight was 14%, obese l(Body mass index of 30-34.9 kg/m2) was 2.2%, and obese 2 (35-39.9 kg/m2) was 0.1%. Conclusion: Although our study is not representative of the whole adolescent population, it seems that obesity is a common occurrence among this population.

Increased awareness about this health hazard is warranted on a nation- wide basis.