Introduction: Understanding childhood obesity becomes vital as a tremendous increase in the prevalence of over- weight/obesity among children and adolescents was observed. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the as- sociations between sociodemographic and psychological characteristics with body-mass-index-for-age (BAZ) among adolescents in Sibu, Sarawak. Methods: A total of 375 students (32.0% males and 68.0% females; 15-17 years old) at four randomly selected public secondary schools were recruited. A questionnaire on sociodemographic and psycho- logical characteristics (self-efficacy for physical activity, weight management, and nutrition, body discrepancy score, and sociocultural pressure to be thin) were used to gather information. Body weight and height were also assessed. Results: Around 18.6% respondents were found to be overweight/obese while nearly 5.0% were categorized as thin. In multiple linear regression, three significant predictors, namely body discrepancy score, being Iban (Reference: Chinese) and sociocultural pressure to be thin explained 45.1% of the variance in BMI-for-age z-score. Conclusion: Future interventions on adolescent body weight management should consider incorporating sociodemographic and psychological factors such as the development of positive body image, uniqueness in cultural value, and manage- ment of perceived sociocultural pressures to increase their effectiveness.
Introduction: Night eating syndrome (NES) has been progressively drawing attention and becoming a global con- cern due to its clinical implications. However, the study related to NES was found to be scarce in Malaysia. As such, this study aimed to determine the risk factors of NES among Malaysian public university students. Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 270 participants (mean age: 20.9±1.4 years), who were selected randomly from three different course disciplines at a public university in Selangor, Malaysia. The data were collected using a self-admin- istered questionnaire on socio-demographic background, NES, depression, anxiety, stress, sleep quality, and disor- dered eating. Weight, height, and waist circumference of the participants were measured. Results: Results showed that 12.2% of the participants were engaged in NES. Binary logistic regression identified four significant risk factors of NES namely, being a male (AOR = 3.050, 95% CI = 1.129 – 8.238), persuading in a technical-stream course (AOR= 6.010, 95% CI = 2.057 – 17.555), being a stressful student (AOR = 3.580, 95% CI = 1.149 – 11.151), and having poor sleep quality (AOR = 4.664, 95% CI = 1.431 – 15.209). Conclusion: Early screening process should be con- ducted from time to time in which university students with potentially NES are able to receive necessary behavioural and cognitive therapy in order to recover.