Abouchacra Samra, Alkaabi Juma, Nair Satish Chandrasekhar, Abdulla Abdishakur, Taha Mazen, Ismail Mohamad Milad, Askheta Mazen, Elhouni Ali, Bairy Kurady, Bhat Raghavendra, Salam Al Sayadi Thekra Abdul, Al Baloushi Durra Mohammed, Abouchacra Oudi, Al Nasseri Asma, Gebran Nicole, Yaman Omar
Consultant Nephrologist Al Ain Hospital Al Ain, Al Ain, UAE.
Endocrinologist & Acting Dean College of Medicine and Health Sciences, UAE University, Al Ain, UAE.
J Family Med Prim Care. 2021 Aug;10(8):2998-3004. doi: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_267_21. Epub 2021 Aug 27.
Obesity is the single most burdensome lifestyle disease, which has reached epidemic proportions. This study aimed to examine the eating behavior patterns and beliefs in a group of adolescents living in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
A questionnaire was administered to adolescents (aged 11 and 18 years) attending outpatients' clinics at governmental health facilities. Informed consent was obtained, and the questionnaire was available in English or Arabic languages.
In all, 36 adolescent subjects participated in our study with 12 males and 24 females. UAE nationals constituted 72% of our participants and 28% were of other ethnic backgrounds; 75% were overweight to obese with 17% normal and 8% underweight. The majority of patients were healthy with only 6 patients suffering chronic medical diseases. We uncovered that in less than half of our cohort, the decision to eat came directly from the individuals themselves, but it was more influenced by their families. Food consumption was largely in response to physical hunger with the sensation perceived in the upper abdomen by one-third and the remainder localizing it to various other areas. Excessive caloric intake with frequent meals and snacks was also reported. Our study subjects decided what to consume mainly based on what appeared appetizing, followed by availability and cravings and to a lesser extent based on health recommendations. Excessive speed of food ingestion was self-reported in the majority of participants. Moreover, almost half of the adolescents were unable to turn down food offerings from their close family members and over one-fourth were unable to refuse food from other persons. Common symptoms reported included dysphoric mood, disordered sleep, decreased energy and concentration difficulties as well as low self-esteem.
Our study uncovered certain eating behaviors in the cohort of adolescents, which may be important in promoting weight gain. These included misconceived hunger signals, excessive frequency, amount and speed of food consumption as well as more focus on food taste, inattentiveness to cravings and a strong social influence on food intake decisions. The findings of our study aim to shed some light on the eating patterns among adolescents and encourage research to investigate eating behaviors on an expanded scale evaluating ethnic, gender and age-related differences.
肥胖是最具负担的单一生活方式疾病，已达到流行程度。本研究旨在调查一群生活在阿拉伯联合酋长国（阿联酋）的青少年的饮食行为模式和观念。
对在政府卫生机构门诊就诊的青少年（11至18岁）进行问卷调查。获得了知情同意书，问卷有英文或阿拉伯文版本。
共有36名青少年受试者参与了我们的研究，其中12名男性和24名女性。阿联酋国民占参与者的72%，28%为其他种族背景；75%超重至肥胖，17%正常，8%体重过轻。大多数患者健康状况良好，只有6名患者患有慢性疾病。我们发现，在不到一半的队列中，进食的决定直接来自个体自身，但更多地受到家庭的影响。食物消费主要是对身体饥饿的反应，三分之一的人感觉上腹部有饥饿感，其余的人则将其定位在身体的其他各个部位。还报告了因频繁进餐和吃零食导致的热量摄入过多。我们的研究对象决定吃什么主要基于食物看起来是否开胃，其次是是否容易获得和是否有食欲，在较小程度上基于健康建议。大多数参与者自我报告进食速度过快。此外，几乎一半的青少年无法拒绝亲密家庭成员提供的食物，超过四分之一的青少年无法拒绝他人提供的食物。报告的常见症状包括烦躁情绪、睡眠紊乱、精力下降、注意力不集中以及自卑。
我们的研究揭示了该青少年队列中的某些饮食行为，这些行为可能对体重增加具有重要影响。这些行为包括对饥饿信号的误解、食物消费的频率、数量和速度过高，以及更注重食物味道、对食欲不关注和社会对食物摄入决定的强烈影响。我们研究的结果旨在揭示青少年的饮食模式，并鼓励开展研究，在更大规模上调查饮食行为，评估种族、性别和年龄相关差异。
