Assessment of body weight, maternal dietary knowledge and lifestyle practices among children and adolescents in north Jordan.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents in north Jordan and to evaluate the dietary knowledge of their mothers.

DESIGN: Cross-sectional study.SettingsSchools, Irbid, Jordan.

SUBJECTS: Male and female participants (n 516) aged 6-18 years.

RESULTS: Thirty per cent of our sample population was overweight or obese, and about 11 % was underweight. Males tend to have a higher BMI and waist circumference than females except in the age group ≥15 years. Children who ate in front of the television tended to have higher BMI and waist circumference. Forty per cent of the mothers answered four or more questions correctly out of six, which indicated a sufficient level of nutritional knowledge.

CONCLUSIONS: The study revealed that obesity is a growing health problem in children and adolescents in north Jordan. This finding is considered a serious concern for public health and calls for the creation of new prevention programmes at the individual, family and community level.