Association Between Dietary Patterns and BMI Among Adolescents in Tulkarm City

Supervisor:

Dr. Mariam Amer Al-Tell

Abstract

Background :Monitoring the quality of the foods consumed during adolescence is important as
little is known about the factors that promote changes in the eating behavior and as fasting,
irregular and restricted diets .
BMI ranges reflect the effect of body weight on health and disease. The risk of some
diseases increases as BMI increases. Condition particularly related to overweight and
obesity include; cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, cancer and diabetes .

Aim:The main purpose of this study is to investigate the association between dietary
patterns and BMI among adolescents 13-16 years old.

Methodology:This study useda descriptive quantitativemethod,and a cross-sectional design was
used to gather information once and only .
358 students were recruited in the study , ( 44% female –169/358 , 56% male -189/358 ) .

Conclusion :Prevalence of underweight , obesity , overweight was 9.2% , 21.8% , 16.8%
respectively . we also found that most of students take their breakfast before leaving to
schools (46.7%) , most of students (43.6%) eat three meals daily , and most of them also
(34.9%) do sports outside school , which is considered as healthy patterns .

Keywords :Adolescents ,eating patterns , BMI , obesity , overweight , dietary patterns .