Prevalence of general and abdominal obesity among adolescents attending independent schools in Qatar

Purpose: The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of general and abdominal obesity among adolescents attending independent schools in Qatar. Design/methodology/approaches: A school-based cross-sectional study was conducted in November –December 2013 in 23 secondary schools. A total of 1161 student aged 14 to 19 years old were randomly selected using a multistage stratified cluster random sampling technique. Body weight, height and waist circumference (WC) were measured using standard protocol. The International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) age- and sex-specific body mass index (BMI) reference were used to define overweight and obesity. Abdominal obesity (AO) was defined by waist to height ratio (WHtR ≥0.5) and by sex and age specific WC cut-off values. Findings: The prevalence of overweight and obesity among the study population was 20.6% and 20.7%, respectively. The highest rate of overweight and obesity was observed among boys, and the youngest age group. The rate of obesity defined by either WC /or WHtR was higher than that assessed by BMI. The prevalence of AO assessed by WC and WHtR was 48.8% and 46.9%, respectively. The rate of AO was significantly higher (p