Hamid Y Hussain, AlBehandy Hussein H, Al Faisal W, El Sawaf E, Wasfy A, Alshareef N and Altheeb AAS
Dubai Health Authority, UAE
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Primary Health Care
Background: Asthma and obesity are recently evolved into two major public health concerns in developed countries. Objectives: The objective of this study was to measure the prevalence of bronchial asthma among preparatory and secondary school students in Dubai, and to study the association of bronchial asthma with overweight and obesity and some socio-demographic characteristics among preparatory and secondary school students in Dubai. Methodology: A cross sectional study was conducted among students of preparatory and secondary schools (private and governmental schools) in Dubai using a stratified random sample technique. The study sample included 1639 children. Results: It was brought out that 16.7% of the study students have had an asthma attack at some point of time with ever complaining of chest wheeze where near three fourths of them complained of this wheeze during the past 12 months prior to the research. Emirian students and those in governmental schools were more affected with bronchial asthma. Obesity and overweight expressed as BMI were among factors associated with increase the prevalence of asthma among school students in preparatory and secondary schools abreast with family history of asthma and being male. Conclusion: Body weight and family history of bronchial asthma patients contribute significantly in the development of bronchial asthma. There is a need to develop a national asthma surveillance system for screening of bronchial asthma among school children, launching a national asthma public education campaigns, targeting childhood overweight and obesity and lunching a prospective study with a large sample size for further investigation of the relation-ship between asthma and childhood overweight and obesity.
Email: hyHussain@dha.gov.ae
