Trends of dietary behaviour, physical activity, interpersonal violence and hand hygiene behaviour among school-going adolescents in Oman: cross-sectional national surveys from 2005, 2010 and 2015

Abstract

© 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. The study investigated trend estimates of the prevalence of dietary behaviour, physical activity, interpersonal violence and hand hygiene behaviour measured in the ‘Global School-based Student Health Survey’ in 2005, 2010 and 2015 in Oman. Three waves of cross-sectionally collected data included 8053 in-school adolescents, 51.3% boys and 48.7% girls (mean age 14.8 years, SD = 1.4). Significant improvements were found in the decline of the experience of hunger and having been physically attacked. Significant increases were found in the prevalence of insufficient fruit consumption, inadequate vegetable consumption, physical inactivity, interpersonal violence (bullied and in a physical fight) and poor hand hygiene behaviour in boys and/or girls from 2005 to 2015. High prevalences of several health risk behaviours were found and for a number of them significant increases were found over a period of ten years calling for intensified health promoting school interventions.