Obese children had impaired psychosocial status as they generally tend to be socially isolated, have poor self-esteem, anxiety, mood disorder (depression and bipolar disorder) and eating disorder. The aim of this study was to investigate the child-report and parent-report of HRQoL among 9-11 years old obese school children in Malaysia and to determine the associated factors of HRQoL among obese children in Malaysia. This study was a cross-sectional study involving 101 obese Malay primary school children aged 9-11 years old from eleven primary schools in Kuala Terengganu which were selected via convenience sampling. Height and weight of the respondents were measured and their BMI was calculated. Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) was measured using PedsQL version 4.0. The mean age of the respondents was 10.02 ± 0.82 years old with mean BMI z-score was 3.01 ± 0.60. There were significance differences between boys and girls in; 1) emotional domain score for child-report QoL (p=0.019) using paired t-test and 2) psychosocial domain score for parent-report QoL (p=0.025). Regression analysis found that age and gender were the associated factors for Psychological Health for obese children (p<0.005). Being obese had negative effects on children’s quality of life. Various strategies interventions should be done to improve the HRQoL of these obese children. A multidisciplinary approach in schools must be organized to encourage a healthy lifestyle as part of routine among the school children.

Obese children had impaired psychosocial status as they generally tend to be socially isolated, have poor self-esteem, anxiety, mood disorder (depression and bipolar disorder) and eating disorder. The aim of this study was to investigate the child-report and parent-report of HRQoL among 9-11 years old obese school children in Malaysia and to determine the associated factors of HRQoL among obese children in Malaysia. This study was a cross-sectional study involving 101 obese Malay primary school children aged 9-11 years old from eleven primary schools in Kuala Terengganu which were selected via convenience sampling. Height and weight of the respondents were measured and their BMI was calculated. Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) was measured using PedsQL version 4.0. The mean age of the respondents was 10.02 ± 0.82 years old with mean BMI z-score was 3.01 ± 0.60. There were significance differences between boys and girls in; 1) emotional domain score for child-report QoL (p=0.019) using paired t-test and 2) psychosocial domain score for parent-report QoL (p=0.025). Regression analysis found that age and gender were the associated factors for Psychological Health for obese children (p<0.005). Being obese had negative effects on children’s quality of life. Various strategies interventions should be done to improve the HRQoL of these obese children. A multidisciplinary approach in schools must be organized to encourage a healthy lifestyle as part of routine among the school children.
Health-related quality of life ; obese ; children ; pedsQL

Worldwide prevalence of obesity among children and adolescents increased substantially over decades. Addressing potential risk factors of obesity among adolescents is very important for a successful intervention program in this population. The present study aimed to identify the sociodemographic determinants of obesity among school adolescents in Terengganu. A cross-sectional survey involving 3,798 school adolescents age 12 years old from 136 government primary schools in Kuala Terengganu and Besut districts were carried out from November 2014 to June 2015. For the purpose of this paper, the data for 2,842 school adolescents classified as either normal BMI (< +1SD) (n= 2,305) or obese (+2SD) (n= 537) based on WHO cut-off points were taken for analysis. Sociodemographic information on subjects and their parents were obtained from self-reported questionnaire. Anthropometric measurements were conducted by Physical Education teachers and uploaded into a specific developed database. The prevalence of obesity was relatively high in both genders in this study. Binary logistic regression analysis found gender, parental BMI, household income, household size and maternal working status were independently associated with obesity among school adolescents in this population. In the final model, being male, having working mother, and having obese parents were identified to be potential risk factors for obesity whilst having large household size lower the risk of obesity among these adolescents. Prevention programs are needed to increase awareness about the risk factors of obesity in adolescent and interventions should now focus on family member as well mainly the parents.

Worldwide prevalence of obesity among children and adolescents increased substantially over decades. Addressing potential risk factors of obesity among adolescents is very important for a successful intervention program in this population. The present study aimed to identify the sociodemographic determinants of obesity among school adolescents in Terengganu. A cross-sectional survey involving 3,798 school adolescents age 12 years old from 136 government primary schools in Kuala Terengganu and Besut districts were carried out from November 2014 to June 2015. For the purpose of this paper, the data for 2,842 school adolescents classified as either normal BMI (< +1SD) (n= 2,305) or obese (+2SD) (n= 537) based on WHO cut-off points were taken for analysis. Sociodemographic information on subjects and their parents were obtained from self-reported questionnaire. Anthropometric measurements were conducted by Physical Education teachers and uploaded into a specific developed database. The prevalence of obesity was relatively high in both genders in this study. Binary logistic regression analysis found gender, parental BMI, household income, household size and maternal working status were independently associated with obesity among school adolescents in this population. In the final model, being male, having working mother, and having obese parents were identified to be potential risk factors for obesity whilst having large household size lower the risk of obesity among these adolescents. Prevention programs are needed to increase awareness about the risk factors of obesity in adolescent and interventions should now focus on family member as well mainly the parents.
Sociodemographic ; obesity ; school adolescents ; Terengganu ; Malaysia

Purpose::Malnutrition is a common problem among hospitalized patients, especially among traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients. It is developed from hypermetabolism and the condition may worsen under the circumstance of underfeeding or incompatible dietary management. However, the data of nutrient intake especially calorie and protein among TBI patients were scarce. Hence, this study aimed to determine the calorie and protein intake among acute and sub-acute TBI patients receiving medical nutrition therapy in hospital Sultanah Nur Zahirah, Terengganu.Methods::This observational study involved 50 patients recruited from the neurosurgical ward. Method of 24 h dietary recall was utilized and combined with self-administered food diaries for 2-8 days. Food consumptions including calorie intake and protein intake were analyzed using Nutritionist PRO? (Woodinville, USA) and manual calculation based on the Malaysian food composition database (2015).Results::Patients consisted of 56% males and 44% females with the median age of 28.0 (IQR = 22.8-36.5) years, of which 92% were diagnosed as mild TBI and the remaining (8%) as moderate TBI. The Glasgow coma scale (GCS) was adopted to classify TBI severity with the score 13-15 being mild and 9-12 being moderate. The median length of hospital stay was 2 (IQR = 2.0-3.3) days. Calorie and protein intake improved significantly from day 1 to discharge day. However, the intake during discharge day was still considered as suboptimal, i.e. 75% of calorie requirement, whilst the median protein intake was only 61.3% relative to protein requirement. Moreover, the average percentages of calorie and protein intakes throughout hospitalization were remarkably lower, i.e. 52.2% and 41.0%, respectively.Conclusion::Although the calorie and protein intakes had increased from baseline, hospitalized TBI patients were still at a risk to develop malnutrition as the average intakes were considerably low as compared to their requirements. Optimum nutrient intakes especially calorie and protein are crucial to ensure optimum recovery process as well as to minimize risks of infection and complications.

Introduction: The increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity has been alarming. One approach to address this issue is to implement health promotion programmes. Despite the many health promotion and health intervention programmes held, there is a lack of evidence showing the application of theories and models. This scoping review aimed to explore existing literature and synthesise findings based on models and theories used to support health promotion programmes for overweight and obese adults. Methods: This review was guided by the Arksey and O’Malley framework. Online databases, such as Ovid, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, were used to search for relevant articles using suitable keywords, from January 2015 until December 2021. Articles were written in English and Malay, and the study subjects were adults aged 18-59 years old. Two reviewers independently screened the articles, and the extracted information were tabulated after analysis. Results: A total of 13 different theories and models were found in the 27 articles selected. Many studies reported using the Transtheoretical Model, Social Cognitive Theory, and Health Belief Model in health promotion programmes for overweight and obese adults. Most constructs and components focused on changing health-related behaviours starting with the individual, such as self-efficacy and readiness to change. Majority of the articles showed an improvement in health-related behaviours and had great potential for future studies. Conclusion: When conducting health promotion programmes for overweight and obese adults, researchers should consider models and theories with constructs and components to ensure consistent improvement and potentially significant impacts on health-related outcomes.

Introduction: Intervention approaches that integrate human coaching into technology are considered as a convenient, accessible and scalable method to reach a larger population at risk. The objective of this paper is to present the protocol for a randomised controlled trial that evaluates the efficacy of a lifestyle intervention programme via a mobile phone app (MyDiPP), which aims to prevent diabetes among adults at risk of developing diabetes. Methods: MyDiPP intervention is to be delivered for 12 months with multiple approaches (weight loss, dietary modification, physical activity, and quality of life). Eligible adults aged 18-65 years, overweight/obese (body mass index, BMI ≥ 23kg/m2), and at high risk of type 2 diabetes [American Diabetes Association (ADA) Diabetes Risk Score ≥5, or haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) of 5.6-6.2%], will be randomly assigned to one of two study groups (intervention or usual care control groups) in a 1:1 ratio using simple randomisation. Results: Changes in weight and HbA1c level (primary outcomes), and changes in physical activity level, dietary intake, and quality of life (secondary outcomes) will be assessed at 6 and 12 months. Conclusion: This study protocol describes the first digital therapy for diabetes prevention in Malaysia, which will determine whether the effect of this intervention is larger than the effect of usual care in reducing body weight and HbA1c level, and improving dietary intake, physical activity, and quality of life of high-risk individuals. Results from this trial may be useful for preventing type 2 diabetes mellitus in Malaysia.