Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess how frequently schoolchildren report consuming sweets, soft drinks, and cakes, and whether life- and school-satisfaction and self-esteem factors are associated with the consumption of these sugar products.

Material and methods: A total of 2,312 schoolchildren between the ages of 11 and 13 years from the government schools in Kuwait completed an anonymous structured questionnaire during 2002 and 2003. A representative sample of children from all six governorates of the country was drawn into the study. The questionnaire of the Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) survey was translated from English to Arabic and was used after modification to suit Kuwaitis. The chi-square test and logistic regression model were used in the analysis.

Results: A large proportion of children reported consuming sweets (42%), soft drinks (43%), and cakes (31%) several times a day. Almost every fourth child reported consuming all these sugar products more than once a day. All life-satisfaction and self-esteem variables and almost all school-satisfaction variables seemed to associate with more-than-once-a-day consumption of sugar products. When all the associated variables were analyzed together using the logistic regression model, the life- and school-satisfaction and self-esteem factors seemed to have a stronger association with frequent sugar consumption than did gender, grade, or nationality.

Conclusions: Consumption of sugar products was common among schoolchildren in Kuwait, and both positive and negative life-satisfaction and self-esteem factors were associated.