A cross-sectional study was performed on a student population in grades 7-12 in 10 private schools in Dubai in the academic year 2012/13. The study was in two phases. The first was used to estimate incidence rate of injuries, where the total injuries that took place in the schools in 2012 was divided by the total student population in the studied schools in the same year multiplied by 1000. The second was to study the determinants of severity through randomly selecting 1000 cases of injuries. A self-administered questionnaire was given to the participants after obtaining verbal consent. Sociodemographic characteristics showed that most (74.2%) of the students in this study were male and about half (57.3%) were aged 12-14 years. The incidence rate of injuries was 297.7/1000, and most of the injuries (88.9%) were mild. Poor school safety was blamed for most of the injuries, and falls were the most frequent type of injury.

The prevalence of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents in UAE was dramatically increased in the last few years, which has major public health implications. The aim of the present study was to assess knowledge, attitude, and practice towards overweight and obesity among secondary school students in Dubai. A cross sectional study was carried out in private secondary schools in Dubai using a multistage stratified random sample technique. Self administrated questionnaire was utilized to collect data about socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge, and attitude towards obesity, perception of the students about their weight, methods, and barriers of practicing weight reduction. Results revealed that 33.5% of the students had good knowledge about obesity and its complications while 44.8% had poor level. Positive attitude towards obesity and its treatment was found among 57.0% of the students with no significant gender difference. More than half of the students (56.7%) agreed that obesity is a disease and 72.1% agreed that obesity needs treatment. Self perception of being obese was found among 58.5% of the students, and the majority (72.6%) did not practice any weight reduction before. Females had significantly higher rate of practicing weight reduction compared to males. The most common barriers against practicing weight reduction were lack of knowledge about the methods (47%), lack of time (25%), and lake of interest or support (23.2%). Female gender and higher education of the mother were independent predictors of good knowledge about obesity, while higher education of the mother was an independent predictor for student's positive attitude towards obesity. Utilization of the mass media to enhance the level of community knowledge about obesity and its complications was recommended. Health education materials should be delivered to present and future mothers. School health programs should include interventions to improve knowledge, attitude, and practice of the students towards obesity.

Background: Exploring knowledge about and associated factors of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among patients with thalassemia is essential in developing more suitable clinical, counseling, and social support programs to improve treatment outcomes of these patients. Objectives: To investigate knowledge about HRQOL in transfusion-dependent thalassemia major patients, and to identify the socio-demographic and disease related factors that affect their quality of life (QOL). Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the QOL of 279 transfusiondependent thalassemia major patients (> 13 years) who had no co-morbidities other than disease or transfusion related complications and factors affecting it. The PedsQL 4.0 Generic Core questionnaire was administered. It consists of 23 items, and has physical, emotional, social, school and work dimensions. Results: Overall QOL mean score (±SD) was 78.88 (± 13.14). Out of 5 predictors affecting the total score (type of diagnosis, annual serum ferritin, number of complications, diabetes mellitus and (hypogonadism) sexual growth complications) it was found that the total summary score was positively predicted by diagnosis (p=0.018); the total quality of life in thalassemia intermediate was better than thalassemia major patients, and it was negatively affected by mean annual serum ferritin level (p=0.014); the higher the serum ferritin level the lower the total QOL score. Conclusion: The thalassemia patient's quality of life at Dubai Thalassemia Center didn't appear different from others around the world. It was affected by serum ferritin, number of complications, type of iron chelators and professional job. While cardiac complication impacted the physical dimension negatively, diabetes has impacted the psychosocial dimension. These data may help in implementing interventions focused on the affected dimensions.

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