Assessment of the Impact of Mood on Food Intake and BMI Among Secondary Female Students in Al Madinah Almunawarah, KSA

Abstract

Suha Hashim Abduljawad

Introduction: Eating healthy is one of the essential things that should be taught at a young age. Obesity among adolescent or young girls is increasing dramatically. Psychological factors like mood swings can contribute to increased dietary intake and eventually to obesity.

Aims: To explore the impact of mood on dietary intake and development of obesity

Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted on a hundred female students aged from 13 to 15 years old. Students were selected randomly from three private secondary schools located in Al-Madinah. Students who matched the inclusion criteria were allowed to participate. A health and lifestyle questionnaire was distributed as well as a food diary to record their food consumption and mood over the upcoming three days (two school days and one weekend day). Weight and height were measured and BMI was obtained and compared to percentile BMI for age according to WHO.

Results: A cross-sectional analysis determined the association between negative mood and intake of the following: calories: p value (0.02), fat: p value (0.01) and carbohydrates (0.01) respectively. Moreover, analysis also determined the association between BMI percentile (obese and overweight students) and intake of all of the following; fat (p=0.001), carbs (p=0.014) and kcal (p=0.006).

Conclusion: Negative mood among students or adolescents could contributes to increase consumption of fat, carbs and energy and could lead to increasing body weight, compared to students with positive mood which could lead them to consume less fat, carbs and calories and then not effect body weight.

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