Overweight and Obesity: Prevalence and Level of Awareness among Adolescents in Selected Urban and Peri-Urban Secondary Schools in Monze, Zambia

Download Article

DOI: 10.21522/TIJPH.2013.06.01.Art002

Authors : Sophonie Ndahayo

Abstract:

The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to determine the prevalence, level of awareness and associated risk-factors among adolescents in selected secondary schools in Monze, Zambia. The main objective was to establish the magnitude and level of awareness about the disease burden associated with the consumption of energy-dense foods compacted by physical inactivity among the studied population. A sample of 358 respondents was selected from a population of 2319 pupils. A 57-items structured questionnaire was used to collect data, which was analysed using SPSS 16.0. Of the 358 respondents, the prevalence of underweight was one percent, normal weight 75%, overweight or obesity 24%, and that of that of obesity alone was 5%. These rates are among the highest in sub-Saharan Africa. The results showed a significant difference between residing in peri-urban area and the urban one (ρ= .05%). Applying the Delphi experts’ scores, respondents’ awareness level of overweight and obesity and associated risk-factors was between moderate and low. A school-based policy to prevent overweight and obesity among adolescents in Zambia was recommended among other measures to be taken by all stakeholders.

Keywords: overweight, obesity, awareness, urban, peri-urban, adolescents.

References:

[1].     Ade, A., Chethana, K.V., Mane, A. (2014). Non-communicable diseases: awareness of risk-factors and lifestyle among rural adolescents. International Journal of Bio Medical Research 5(1), pp. 3769-3771.

[2].     Adesina, A.F., Peterside, O., Anochie, I. and Akani, N.A. (2012). Weight status of adolescents in secondary schools in Port Harcourt using MBI. Italia Journal of Pediatrics vol. 38 p. 31.

[3].     Allison, A., Hedley, Cynthia L. Ogden, Clifford L. Johnson, Margaret D. Carroll, Lester R. Curtin, and Katherine M. Flegal (2004). “Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity among U.S. Children, Adolescents, and Adults, 1999–2002,” Journal of the American Medical Association 291, no. 23 (2004): 2847-2850.

[4].     Armstrong, M.E.; Lambert, M.I.; Sharwood, K.A.; Lambert, E.V. (2006). Obesity and overweight in South African primary school children–The Health of the Nation Study. South African Medical Journal 96, pp. 439-444.

[5].     Beaglehole, R., and Yach, D. (2003). Globalisation and the prevention and control of non-communicable disease: the neglected chronic diseases of adults. Lancet 362, pp. 903–908.

[6].     Bhagyalaxmi, A., Atul, T. and Shikha, J. (2013). Prevalence of risk-factors of non-communicable diseases in a District of Gujarat, India. Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition 31(1), pp. 78-85.

[7].     Black, R. E., Victora, C. G., Walker, S. P., Bhutta, Z. A., Christian, P., de Onis, M., Ezzati, M., Grantham-McGregor, S., Katz, J., Martorell, R., Uauy, R. (2013). Maternal and child undernutrition and overweight in low-income and middle-income countries. Lancet 382(9890), pp. 427–451.

[8].     Caprio, S. Daniels, S. R., Drewnowski, A., Kaufman, F. R., Palinkas, L. A., Rosenbloom, A. L. Schwimmer, J. B. (2008). Influences of race, ethnicity and culture on childhood obesity: Implications for prevention and treatment. Diabetes Care 31(11), pp. 2211-2221.

[9].     Chopra, M., Galbraith, S. and Darnton-Hill, I. (2002). A global response to a global problem: the epidemic of over-nutrition. Bulletin of the World Health Organisation 80, pp. 952-958.

[10].  Cragg, S. and Cameron, C. (2006). Physical activity of Canadian Youth – An analysis of 2002 health behaviour in school-age children data. Ottawa: Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute.

[11].  Clement, J. M., Schmidt, C. A., Bernaix, L. W., Covington, N. K. & Carr, T. R. (2004). Obesity and physical activity in college women: Implications for clinical practice. Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners 16(7), 291-299.

[12].  Daniels, R.S. (2006). From critical periods to abnormal weight gain in children and adolescents. In Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. Report of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee on the dietary guidelines for Americans, 2010, to the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Washington, DC: US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service; 2010.

[13].  De Onis, M. and Lobstein, T. (2010). Defining Obesity risk-status in the general childhood population: which cut-offs should we use? International Journal of Paediatric Obesity 5, pp. 458-460.

[14].  Gurman, A. S. and Messer, S. B. (1995). Essential Psych9otherapies: Theory and Practice.New York: The Guilford Press.

[15].  Hagan, J.E. (2009). Awareness and Attitudes of University of Cape Coast students toward obesity and its management. Master’s Thesis.

[16].  Jansen, I., Katzmarzyk, P.T., Srinivasan, S.R., Chen, W., Malim, R.M., Bouchard, C., Berenson, G.S. (2005). Combined influence of body mass index and waist factors among children and adolescents. Pediatrics 115 (6), pp. 1623-1630.

[17].  Kimani-Murage, E.W.; Kahn, K.; Pettifor, J.M.; Tollman, S.M.; Klipstein-Grobusch, K.; Norris, S.A. (2011). Predictors of adolescent weight status and central obesity in rural South Africa. Public Health Nutrition 14, pp. 1114-1122.

[18].  Kennedy, G., Nantel, G. and Shetty, P. (2006). The double burden of malnutrition – case studies from six developing countries. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.

[19].  Kumah, D. B., Abaka-Cann, J. E., Affran, D. E. and Osae, E. A. (2015). Prevalence of overweight and obesity among students in Kumasi Metropolis. Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism, article ID 613207.

[20].  Kumah, D. B., Abaka-Cann, J. E., Affran, D. E. and Osae, E. A. (2015). Prevalence of overweight and obesity among students in Kumasi Metropolis. Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism, article ID 613207.

[21].  Kruger, R.; Kruger, H.S.; Macintyre, U.E. (2006). The determinants of overweight and obesity among 10- to 15-year-old schoolchildren in the North West Province, South Africa—The THUSA BANA (Transition and Health during Urbanisation of South Africans; BANA, children) study. Public Health Nutrition 9, pp. 351-358.

[22].  LaFontaine, T. (2008). Physical activity: the epidemic of obesity and overweight among youth: trends, consequences, and interventions. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine 2 (1), pp. 30-36.

[23].  Manyanga, T., El-Sayed, H., Doku, D.T. and Randall, J.R. (2014). The prevalence of underweight, overweight, obesity and associated risk-factors among school-going adolescents in seven African countries. Biomodicalcentral.com/147-2458/14/887.

[24].  Muthari, S. K., Francis, C. E., Wachira, L-J. M., LeBlanc, A. G., Sampson, M, et al. (2014) Evidence of an Overweight/Obesity Transition among School-Aged Children and Youth in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review. PLoS ONE 9(3): e92846. doi:10.1371/journal.pone 0092846.

[25].  Murray, C. J. L. and Lopez, A. D. (1996). The global burden of disease: a comprehensive assessment of mortality and disability from diseases, injuries, and risk factors in 1990 and projected to 2020. Cambridge (MA): Harvard University Press.

[26].  Ogden, C.L., Flegal, K.M., Carroll, M.D., Johnson, C.L. (2002). Prevalence and trends in overweight among United States children and adolescents – 1999-2000. Journal of American Medical Association 288(14), pp. 1728-1732.

[27].  Pakpour, H.A., Yekaninejad, S.M. and Chen, H. (2011). Mothers’ perception of obesity in schoolchildren: a survey and the impact of an educational intervention. Journal de Pediatria 87(2), pp. 169-174.

[28].  Patton, C. G., Coffey, C., Cappa, C., Currie, D., Riley, L., Gore, F., Degenhardt, Dominic Richardson, Astone, N., Sangowawa, O. A., Mokdad, A., Ferguson, J. (2012). Health of the world’s adolescents: a synthesis of internationally comparable data. Lancet 379, pp. 1665-75.

[29].  Peltzer, K. and Pengpid, S. (2011). Overweight and obesity and associated factors among school-aged adolescents in Ghana and Uganda. International Journal of environmental research and public health 8, pp. 3859-3870.

[30].  Peltzer, K. and Pengpid, S. (2015). Overweight and obesity and associated factors among school-aged adolescents in six pacific Island countries in Oceania. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 12, pp. 14505-14518.

[31].  Pi-Sunyer, F.X. (1991). Health implications of obesity. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition53, (6suppl) 1595S-1603S. Available at: http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/reprint/53/6/1595S.

[32].  Puoane, T., Tsolekile, L. and Steyn, N. (2010). Perceptions about body image and sizes among black African girls living in Cape Town. Ethnicity and disease 20 (1), pp. 29-34.

[33].  Reilly, J. J. and Kelly, J. (2011). Long-term impact of overweight and obesity in childhood and adolescence on morbidity and premature mortality in adulthood: systematic review. International Journal of Obesity 35, pp. 891-898.

[34].  Remesh, A. (2012). Prevalence of adolescent obesity among high-school students of Kerala, South India. Archives of Pharmacy Practice 3 (4), pp. 289-292.

[35].  Silva, G. A., Balaban, G., Nascimento, E. M., Baracho, J. D., Freitas, M. M. (2002). Prevalência de sobrepeso e obesidade em adolescentes de uma escola pública do Recife. Rev Bras Saude Matern Infant 2, pp. 37-42.

[36].  Steyn, K., and Damasceno, A. (2006). Lifestyle and related risk factors for chronic diseases. In: Jamison DT, Feachem RG, Makgoba MW, et al., editors. Disease and mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa. 2nd edition. Washington, DC: World Bank. Available: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2290.

[37].  Shafey, O. (2010). The Tobacco Atlas, 3rd edition. Atlanta, G. A: American Cancer Society.

[38].  Sweeting, H., Anderson, A., and West, P. (1994). Socio-demographic correlates of dietary habits in mid-to-late adolescence. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 48, pp. 736-748.

[39].  Rao, U. K., Katzarski, M., Mehta, L. and Brady, K. (1981). Growth of Zambian Children. Medical Journal of Zambia 15(3), pp. 87-91.

[40].  Rudatsikira, E., Muula, A. S., Mulenga, D. and Siziya, S. (2012). Prevalence and Correlates of Obesity among Lusaka residents, Zambia: a population-based survey. International archives of Medicine 5, 14. Available at: http://www.intarchmed.com/content/5/1/14

[41].  Tremblay, M.S., Willms, J.D. (2003). Is the Canadian childhood obesity epidemic related to physical inactivity? International Journal of Obesity Related Metabolism Disorders volume 9, pp. 1100-1105.

[42].  UNICEF (2012b) “Draft Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review – Zambia, 22 October-5 November 2012”. Geneva: United Nations.

[43].  Wang, Y. C., Bleich, S. N. (2008). Gortmaker SL. Increasing caloric contribution from sugar-sweetened beverages and 100 percent fruit juices among U.S. children and adolescents, 1988-2004. Paediatrics 121(6), pp. e1604–14.

[44].  Wechsler, H., McKenna, M.L., Lee, S.M., Dietz, W.H. (December 2004). The role of schools in preventing childhood obesity. The state education Standard. .ww.cgdev.org

[45].  www.acsm.org American College of Sports Medicine, accessed in February 2015.

[46].  Willet, W. C. (1997). Dietary fats and non-communicable disease. in: Shetty, P. S., McPherson, K. (eds). Diet, nutrition and chronic disease: lessons from contrasting worlds. Wiley: Chichester.

[47].  Wiist, W. (2010). The bottom line or public health: tactics corporations use to influence health and health policy, and what we can do to counter them. New York: Oxford University Press.

[48].  Wiist, W. (2006). Public health and the anti-corporate movement: rationale and recommendations. American Journal of Public Health 96, pp. 1370–1375.

[49].  www.wikipedia.org

[50].  www.who.int (2004). Global strategy on diet, physical activity and health.

[51].  www.who.int 2008-2013 – Action Plan for the Global Strategy for the Prevention and control of non-communicable diseases.

[52].  www.cgdev.org March 2007

[53].  www.cdc.gov/mmwr Morbidity and Mortality Report September 16, 2011 volume 60, # 5.

[54].  Zambia Central Statistics Office 2010 Census Preliminary Report.

[55].  Zambia Global School Health Survey – 2004 available at www.who.int.org

[56].  Zellner, D. A., Garriga-Trillo, A., Rohm, E., Centeno, S., Parker, S., (1999). Food liking and craving: A cross-cultural approach. Appetite. 33(1), pp. 61-70.