ABSTRACT
Background & objectives: Research studies in the 1970s reported that in pre-school children, undernutrition increased the risk of infections and infections aggravated undernutrition. Over decades, there has been a reduction in prevalence of undernutrition and improvement in access to healthcare for treatment of infections. A mixed longitudinal study was undertaken to assess whether over time there were any changes from the earlier reported effect of undernutrition prior to infection on the risk of morbidity and effect of morbidity on nutritional status in pre-school children. Methods: Pre-school (0-59 months of age) children from urban low- and middle-income families whose parents were willing to allow their participation in the study were enrolled. Information on sociodemographic profile of the families was collected at enrolment. Weight of all children and length in infants were recorded every month; length/height in children 12-59 months of age was recorded once in three months. Morbidity information was collected through fortnightly visits. Results: 3888 pre-school children were followed up in 74636 home visits. Among these children, underweight and wasting were associated with a small increase in risk of infections. The odds ratio for risk of infection for underweight children was 1.09 (95% CI: 1.02 to 1.16) and for wasting was 1.18 (95% CI: 1.08 to 1.29). The deterioration in Z scores for weight-for-age and body mass index-for-age in children during illness and convalescence was small but significant (P<0.001). Interpretation & conclusions: The increased risk of infections in undernourished children living in overcrowded tenements in areas with poor environmental hygiene was not significant, perhaps because the risk of infection in normally nourished children was also high. The deterioration in nutritional status following infection was small because of the ready access to and utilization of health and nutrition care.
ABSTRACT
@#Introduction: Understanding childhood obesity becomes vital as a tremendous increase in the prevalence of overweight/obesity among children and adolescents was observed. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the associations 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 psychological 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 management of perceived sociocultural pressures to increase their effectiveness
ABSTRACT
Background: Overweight and obesity are important modifiable risk factors for various noncommunicable diseases. The link between obesity, poor health outcomes, and all-cause mortality is well established. Overweight and obesity during childhood increases the likelihood of diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart disease, stroke, certain cancers, obstructive sleep apnea, and osteoarthritis more early in younger age groups. Objectives: The aim of the study was to estimate the prevalence and some correlates of overweight and obesity in the study population. Methods: The present study was a cross-sectional study conducted during October 2017 among 300 boys of primary public schools from Baish City of Jazan Province, Saudi Arabia. A semi-structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Weight and height were measured using standard tools. The WHO Z-score reference values of body mass index-for-age were used for the screening of overweight and obesity. Analysis was done using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS version 19.0). Results: The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 10.1% and 12.4%, respectively, among the study participants. There was a significant difference in the overweight and obesity between urban and rural study population. Overweight and obesity was found higher among children who took frequently junk food. Conclusions: Overweight and obesity was substantially prevalent among primary schoolboys with a significant rural–urban difference.
ABSTRACT
Reduction of premature mortality due to noncommunicable diseases through prevention and control forms the core issue of target 3.4 of sustainable development goals. Childhood obesity is an important public health challenge today. The current study was carried out in a large military station of North East India to find out prevalence of obesity among schoolchildren using World Health Organization body mass index-for-age charts for boys and girls. A total of 793 schoolchildren comprising of 328 girls and 465 boys between the age groups of 6 and 19 years were included. The prevalence of overweight and obesity among girls was 9.76% and 1.22%; and among boys, it was 10.97% and 3.23%, respectively. Overweight and obesity were more common among boys as compared to girls under the age of 13 years but trend changed afterwards. Lower prevalence of overweight and obesity found in our study could be because of availability of healthful environment in schools.