Anthropometric and body composition indicators of Bahraini adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Childhood and adolescent obesity tends to extend into adulthood and predisposes the individual to some chronic diseases in later life. Body composition is a good indicator for assessing obesity and nutritional status of people.

AIM: To determine the anthropometric and body composition characteristics of Bahraini adolescents and to compare these measurements with previously published data on the same age group. SUBJECTS OF METHODS: Cross-sectional data on 506 Bahraini adolescents (249 boys and 257 girls) aged 12-17 years were collected in 2000. The sample was selected from intermediate and secondary schools using a multistage stratified sampling procedure. Anthropometric measurements, including weight, height, mid upper arm circumference, waist and hip circumference, triceps, subscapular and medial calf skinfold thickness, were performed on the adolescents. Body mass index (BMI), percent body fat, arm muscle circumference (AMC), arm muscle area (AMA), arm fat area (AFA), waist/hip ratio (WHR), and subscapular/triceps skinfold ratio (STR) were also calculated.

RESULTS: A sexual dimorphism that appears to be related to differential changes in body composition during puberty was observed. The findings showed that mean BMI, skinfold thickness and percent body fat were all higher than those reported in earlier studies on Bahraini adolescents of corresponding age range, indicating an increase in fat accumulation among the adolescent population. Bahraini adolescents were found to be shorter and of similar weight or even heavier than their Western counterparts, indicating a greater trend of obesity among Bahraini adolescents.

CONCLUSION: A trend of greater obesity appears to have occurred in the Bahraini adolescents during the period between 1986 and 2000. These findings have important public health implications given recent evidence linking childhood and adolescent obesity to increased risk of obesity and morbidity in adulthood. Therefore, programmes to prevent the development of obesity in children and adolescents should be given a high priority.