Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/11189/6201
Title: Differential prevalence and associations of overweight and obesity by gender and population group among school learners in South Africa: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Negash, Sarah 
Agyemang, Charles 
Matsha, Tandi Edith 
Peer, Nasheeta 
Erasmus, Rajiv T 
Kengne, Andre Pascal 
Keywords: Excess weight;Paediatrics;Cardio-metabolic comorbidities;Cardiovascular diseases
Issue Date: 2017
Publisher: Biomed Central
Journal: BMC Obesity 
Abstract: Background: Factors influencing the increasing prevalence of overweight/obesity among children and adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa remain unclear. We assessed the prevalence and determinants of overweight and obesity and effects on cardio-metabolic profile in school learners in the Western Cape, South Africa. Methods: Cross-sectional data were collected from 7 to 18-year-old South African school learners attending 14 schools, randomly selected from 107 government schools in the areas. The learners were selected through stratified random sampling techniques. Logistic regressions were used to assess the determinants of overweight/obesity and its association with cardio-metabolic profile. Results: Among the 1559 participants, the overall prevalence of overweight/obesity was 22.9%. Being a girl (Odds ratio 2.51, 95% CI: .92–3.29), or Black African (1.35, 1.04–.75) was associated with increased odds of being overweight/obese. The identified health consequences among the overweight/obese learners differed between the ethnic groups. Overweight/obese coloured (mixed ancestry) learners were more likely to have hypertension (3.27, 1.18–9.08), hypertriglyceridemia (1.94, 0.99–3.78) and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (3.65, 2.33–5.72), overweight/obese Black African learners had higher odds for hypertension (3.62, 1.31–10.04) and low HDL-C (1.56, 1.01–2.40) and overweight/obese White learners were prone to low HDL-C (5.04, 1.35–18.80). Conclusions: Overweight/obesity is highly prevalent among school learners in Western Cape (South Africa), with being female or Black African increasing the odds. That overweight/obesity is also associated with adverse cardiometabolic risk profile
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/11189/6201
ISSN: 2052-9538
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40608-017-0165-1
Appears in Collections:HWSci - Journal Articles (not DHET subsidised)

Files in This Item:
File Description SizeFormat 
Differential prevalence and associations of.pdfMain article394.93 kBAdobe PDFView/Open
Show full item record

Page view(s)

81
checked on Feb 9, 2021

Download(s)

9
checked on Feb 9, 2021

Google ScholarTM

Check

Altmetric


This item is licensed under a Creative Commons License Creative Commons