The influence of socio-demographic factors on the nutritional intake of overweight and obese children in the Stellenbosch area, Western Cape
Year: 2011
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Introduction: The worldwide increase in the prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity has been identified as a major threat to children's health and South Africa has not been spared.A child's food environment is constrained and shaped by their parents/carers who provide food based on own food preferences and food selections, which in turn are determined by the larger cultural, social and economic context.Risk factors for childhood obesity are not well established.Existing prevention strategies, focusing on late childhood and adolescence, are largely unsuccessful.There is however an increasing body of evidence that the early life environment is an important determinant of risk of obesity in later life.Aim: To determine prevalence and socio-demographic risk factors associated with childhood overweight and obesity in the Stellenbosch area, Western Cape Province.Methods: Cross-sectional, comparison study.A representative group of 638 children (aged 6-13 years) attending three randomly selected Stellenbosch primary schools were weighed and measured to calculate body mass index (BMI) using international obesity task force (IOTF) guidelines in the screening phase of the project to determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity.The comparison study phase identified 84 overweight and obese children and 84 children of normal weight (comparison group) to comprise a sample population of 168 children.Socio-demographic data were determined with a structured questionnaire and compared between the overweight/obese group and comparison group (normal weight) to identify associated risk factors and investigate the H 0 .Results: The prevalence of overweight and obesity in the sample of primary school children was 13% (n=84) as determined by BMI, of which 9% (n=57) were classified as overweight and 4% (n=27) as obese.Socio-economic factors including maternal employment hours (p=0.0462),family characteristics e.g.number of children in the household (p=0.0231),eating behaviour like consuming brown rice (p=0.0371),pork (p=0.0143),canola/olive-based margarine (p=0.0398) or poly-unsaturated margarine (p=0.0481),doughnuts (p=0.0280) and time spent doing sport (p=0.0450) were significantly associated with overweight or obesity.H 0 were thus rejected. Conclusion:The results suggest that maternal working hours, the number of children in the household, poor eating habits and time spent doing sport are important predictor variables for childhood overweight and obesity.Socio-economic status, infant feeding practices and family characteristics like marital circumstances, household number, and mother's age did not appear to play a role in the development of childhood overweight and obesity in this population.In light of this evidence, preventative initiatives should pro-actively promote healthy eating behaviour and physical activity to children at an early age, in particular girls.Involving families and schools in these initiatives is recommended as well as a national childhood obesity monitoring system to identify children at risk and tracking trends of childhood obesity in guiding evidence-based interventions to tackle this major health problem.
Author: Anna Petronella Kirsten
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: Universiteit Stellenbosch
OpenAlex ID: W2106194208