Background: Overweight and obesity in adolescence have become a public health challenge. Health effects due to overweight and obesity appear during adolescence and continue into adulthood. Modifiable factors associated with overweight and obesity include unhealthy dietary behaviors and lack of exercise. Assessment of the prevalence of overweight and obesity and unhealthy dietary behaviors is essential to plan for preventive programs at the population level. Objectives: The aim of the study was to estimate the prevalence of overweight, obesity, and unhealthy dietary behaviors among adolescents of grades 8–12 in Dubai schools, 2019. Method: The Adolescents Risk Behavioral Survey (ARBS) is a 2-stage stratified cluster study. The 1st stage involved randomly selecting schools with a probability proportional to the size and the 2nd stage was randomly selecting classes, and all students in the selected classes were invited to participate; the total participants were 1,683 adolescents from grades 8–12 from 28 private and government schools. Students answered a self-administrated electronic questionnaire. Anthropometric measures including height and weight were assessed by a trained school nurse. Body mass index was calculated and classified according to World Health Organization (WHO) growth charts for sex and age. Data were analyzed with adjustment for weight, primary sampling unit, and stratum. Results: Among the adolescents of Dubai schools studying in grades 8–12, the prevalence of overweight was 25.3% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 22.7–28.2) and obesity was 15% (95% CI: 13.0–18.9). Overweight did not vary between male and female students, but obesity was higher among male students 19.9% (95% CI: 15.4–25.1) than female students 11.8% (95% CI: 8.7–15.6) (p = 0.0261). Age and grade were not found to be associated with overweight or obesity. The prevalence of unhealthy dietary behaviors was common. Examining dietary habits from 30 days prior to the survey, 21.3% of adolescents (95% CI: 17.2–26.1) reported not eating fruits and 19.7% (95% CI: 15.7–24.4) not eating vegetables. With regard to consuming dairy, 3.3% of adolescents (95% CI: 10.9–16.1) did not drink milk or consume dairy products in the 7 days prior to the survey, 31% of adolescents (95% CI: 26.8–35.5) consumed a carbonated drink daily, and 18.4% did not eat breakfast on all 7 days during and before the survey. Eating fast food was high among adolescents as 78.9% reported eating fast food one or more days in the week preceding the survey. Conclusion: School programs for overweight and obesity need further strengthening and to extend their scope to outside of the school community.

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.

<b><i>Background:</i></b> Globally, depressive disorders are one of the leading causes of ill mental health and disability affecting about 1 in 4 people at some point in their lives. Population-level data on depressive disorders in the region are sparse yet essential for health sectors. This is the first population estimate for the prevalence of depressive disorders and associated factors in Dubai. <b><i>Objective:</i></b> The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of depressive disorders and the associated factors among adults aged ≥18 years in the Emirate of Dubai 2019. <b><i>Method:</i></b> This is a complex-design cross-sectional population survey targeting Dubai residents aged ≥18 years. This study was part of the Dubai Household Survey 2019 (DHHS-2019). The total number of participants was 2,244, with a response rate of 91.6%. The design was a 2-stage stratified cluster sample. Trained investigators conducted computer-assisted face-to-face interviews using the World Health Survey questionnaire and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) screening. Analysis was design-based adjusting for weight, primary sampling unit, and stratum. <b><i>Results:</i></b> The overall prevalence of depressive disorders was 2.3% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.6%–3.4%). Screening revealed 1.9% (95% CI: 1.2%–2.9%) of participants were positive for depressive disorders, with no prior diagnosis constituting approximately 74% of the depressed. Factors associated with depression were adjusted using logistic regression and revealed significantly higher odds of depressive disorders among the following: unmarried (single, divorced, and widowed) comparing to married (odds ratio [OR]: 2.7, 95% CI: 1.2–6.3) and smokers than nonsmokers (OR: 3.3, 95% CI: 1.4–8.0). Employment was found to be a protective factor and reduced the odds of having depressive disorders by 80% comparing to unemployed (OR: 0.2, 95% CI: 0.1–0.7). Moreover, those suffering from health conditions had higher odds for having depressive disorders, such as chest pain (OR: 20.2, 95% CI: 5.5–74.8), history of tuberculosis (TB) (OR: 12.6, 95% CI: 2.1–76.8), and history of stroke (OR: 22.5, 95% CI: 6.8–74.2). <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> The prevalence of depressive disorders was relatively low in Dubai compared to most countries. However, approximately 74% of individuals with depression were undiagnosed, indicating the need for screening programs. The odds of having depressive disorders were significantly higher among unmarried, unemployed, smokers, and those with a history of TB and stroke.

Introduction: Youth violence is becoming a major unresolved public health problem. Risk factor of violence is anything that increases the probability that a young person will become violent; but no individual or group risk factors can be used to predict violence with any degree of certainty. Aim of the study: To determine the prevalence and investigate the predictors of violence among students of preparatory and secondary schools in Dubai. Methodology: A cross sectional study was designed with a sample size of 1054 students who were randomly selected from preparatory and secondary governmental and private schools in Dubai. Results: The prevalence of violence either in the form of beating against study students, witnessed or committed by the study students were 27.8%, 49.3% and 39.4% respectively. Clothes pulling, boxing, slapping or kicking constituted the common forms of beating. Among the non-physical forms of aggressive actions; stealing, insulting, spitting and circulating rumours were reported either committed or witnessed by the study students. Boys are highly likely more prone to indulge in rough and vulgar violence. Family condition, school environments and some habits like watching TV, playing computer games, practicing violent contact sports and smokers were found to be at more risk of being included in violent acts. Conclusion: Age, gender, family condition, school environment and some habits may contribute as risk factors for violence among preparatory and secondary school students. Recommendations: There is a need to seriously address violence as an important health issue in our schools given its magnitude. Application of a comprehensive anti-violence program is a must. For violence interventions to be effective they must focus beyond the violent child and the victim to include peers, school staff, parents and the community. This program can be integrated in the school health program.