Global school-based student health survey: country profiles and survey results in the eastern Mediterranean region countries

Abstract

Background The increasing prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) has some major implications on many countries to achieve universal health coverage. This study aimed to investigate the implementation of Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS), which is used to assess the risk factors of NCDs among children and adolescents in the eastern Mediterranean region (EMR). Methods This study was a meta-analysis and systematic literature review of 2001–2018 published studies, which were found by searching PubMed, Google Scholar, WHO, and CDC databases. In this study, the target group was students aged between 13 and 17 years old. GSHS implementation as well as risk factors of NCDs were compared across different countries. The random-effect model for meta-analysis was considered at 95% confidence interval. Result In the EMR, 19 countries have implemented GSHS at least once following the survey manual (37 surveys). Overall, 201,795 students were included in our analysis. The overall estimation prevalence rateof the overweight was 24.5% (20.6–28.8), obesity was 7.3% (5.4–9.5), insufficient physical activity was 82.4% (80.7–84.1), tobacco usage was 14.3% (10.53–18.67), and smoking was 9.6% (8.1–11.3), respectively. Among those aged 13 to 17 years old, these rates were estimated as 19.8 (13.2–27.3), 9.7 (6.2–14.0), 86.1 (84.1–87.9), 17.8 (11.8–24.7), and 11.5 (9.4–13.8), respectively. Conclusion GSHS has been widely implemented across EMR countries. Using nationally representative data, the results show that more efforts are needed to target the NCDs risk factors among adolescents in the region.

Analysing the Influence of WHO Initiatives on the Scientific Discourse of Noncommunicable Diseases through a Bibliometric Approach

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Associations of psychological factors, parental involvement, and adverse health behaviors with bullying among tunisian middle school students

“…In light of these facts, our study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of bullying and to explore the associated factors using an adapted Arabic version of an internationally recognized questionnaire (GSHS) [ 28 ].…”

Risk Factors Distribution for Cardiovascular Diseases among High School Students

“…WHO stepwise methodology and pre-designed questionnaire was used for data collection. Participant's information such as socio-demographic details and risk factors behavior for cardiovascular disease were collected based on the Global School Health Survey questionnaire [13]. Blood pressure and nutritional status was evaluated by mercury sphygmomanometer and anthropometric measurements respectively.…”