Gender-Based Determinants of Obesity among Thai Adolescent Boys and Girls

Abstract

Understanding the determinants that influence obesity among children and adolescents is critical to the prevention of obesity and obesity-related diseases later in life. The findings presented here broaden the understanding of obesity-related challenges by adding analyses that compare nutritional indicators among boys and girls between the ages of 11 and 16 years, by exploring the more recent literature to examine if past trends have continued or not, and by synthesizing the recent findings concerning the causes and determinants of such trends in obesity. Both data from 2005 and the more recent literature review have shown that the consumption of high calorie foods and snacks, greater screen time, body image, and depressive factors play a significant role regarding obesity during adolescence in Thailand. There continues to be a trend of increasing obesity among adolescents in Thailand, and this may be more of a concern in boys. Interviews with health professionals and parents from the 2005 study suggested that girls were more aware of their physical appearance, and there was more societal acceptance to be obese as a boy in Thailand compared to girls. These findings can inform nutritional education practices and policies.

Adolescent health-risk behaviours in Thailand: patterns from national cross-sectional school surveys conducted in 2008, 2015, and 2021

“…Among teenagers, the prevalence of sedentary behaviour was roughly twice as high as global estimates (30%), there was a marginally higher prevalence of physical inactivity than the global average of 85% [33], and the proportion of active commuting to school (≥ 3 days/week) (26.6% in 2021) was much lower than global estimates (40.3%) [19]. The increase in childhood obesity, as also found in a trend study in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) [34], may be due to rapid socioeconomic and nutritional transition [35] (greater consumption of processed, sugar-sweetened soft drinks, greater sedentary behaviour and physical inactivity, and lower intake of fruit and vegetables) [36][37][38]. The enormous increase in sedentary behaviour as also found in a trend study in the UAE [34], may be linked to teens in Thailand using mobile phones and the internet more frequently [39,40].…”