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. 2021 Dec 17;40(1):54.
doi: 10.1186/s41043-021-00279-2.

Perceived stress, eating behavior, and overweight and obesity among urban adolescents

S K Roy  1 , Khurshid Jahan  1 , Nurul Alam  2 , Rumana Rois  3 , Ambrina Ferdaus  1 , Samina Israt  1 , Md Rizwanul Karim  4
Affiliations

Perceived stress, eating behavior, and overweight and obesity among urban adolescents

S K Roy et al. J Health Popul Nutr. .

Abstract

Background: WHO estimated 20% of adolescents (10-19 years) have mental health problems. We examined the prevalence and associated risk predictors of overweight/obesity and perceived stress using eating behaviors and physical activity among school-and-college-going urban adolescents in Bangladesh.

Methods: A cross-sectional study with a multistage sampling technique was employed to select 4609 adolescent students, aged 13-19 years, from all eight Bangladesh divisions during January-June 2019. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire containing Turconi Physical Activity Questionnaire (PAQ), Adolescent Stress Questionnaire (ASQ), Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ), and Anthropometric measurements. Logistic regression and different association measures assessed relationships among adolescent characteristics.

Results: The major 61.5% of adolescents were in moderate-to-extremely-severe levels of stress, 28.2% were overweight/obese, only 2.7% had a very active lifestyle, and 30.5% had a sedentary lifestyle. Perceived stress was positively and significantly correlated with eating behaviors and body mass index, whereas physical activity was significantly associated with the prevalence of overweight/obesity and high stress. The prevalence of overweight/obesity (53.8%) and high stress (52.5%) was higher in males. Adolescents' obesity was 2.212 times more likely who had a sedentary lifestyle (95% CI 1.377-3.552), 1.13 times more likely for those who had experienced stress due to school/leisure conflict (95% CI 1.051-1.222), and 1.634 times more likely for those who were tempted by restrained eating behavior (95% CI 1.495-1.786).

Conclusion: Stress on secondary school-and-college-going students needs to be recognized, and strategies need to be developed to improve adolescents' mental health.

Keywords: ASQ; Adolescent; DEBQ; Mental health; Obesity; Overweight; PAQ; Stressful environment.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The ROC curves to predict high stress using the unadjusted logistic regression model in red and the adjusted model in orange and to predict overweight/obesity the unadjusted model in green and the adjusted model in blue
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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