Prevalence of Childhood Overweight and Obesity and its Determinant Factors Among Elementary School Children in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: A Cross Sectional Study

Overnutrition and Associated Factors: A Comparative Cross-Sectional Study between Government and Private Primary School Students in Gondar Town, Northwest Ethiopia

“…Children in private primary school had a higher proportion of overnutrition (14%) than that of the children of government primary schools (4.3%). This finding is supported by the findings of the studies conducted in different areas of the world: Addis Ababa 16.0% private and 4.3% government [ 21 ], Dire Dawa 45.6% private and 11.0% government [ 16 ], Bole subcity 8.1% private and government 1.7% [ 19 ], Kenya 23.6% private and 7.3% government [ 30 ], and in another study in Kenya 29.0% private and 11.5% government [ 11 ]; in Tanzania, the prevalence was higher among private than government with p =0.021 [ 31 ], Egypt 57% private and 42.3% but much higher than this study, Iran [ 28 ], Mysore city, India14.9% private and 0.2% government [ 32 ], and in another study India 27.9% among private and only 2.45% among government [ 33 ]. This discrepancy might be because parents with higher socioeconomic background of private school children would expose them for higher adoption of unhealthy dietary habits (energy-dense foods, sweetened foods, and fatty animal products) and sedentary lifestyle due to transportation to and from school by vehicle than government school children.…”

“…The overall prevalence of overnutrition in this study was comparable with the findings from studies conducted in Addis Ababa, Bole subcity; the overall prevalence of overnutrition among private and government schools was 9.8% [ 19 ] and in Lome Togo 7.1% [ 20 ] for both government and private. The overall prevalence of overnutrition in this study was slightly lower than studies conducted in Ethiopia: Addis Ababa 12.7% [ 21 ], Dire Dawa 20.5% [ 16 ], and Jimma town 13.3% [ 22 ]. This regional discrepancy might be due to environmental variation among the study cities and might be more urbanized than the study area.…”

Overweight/obesity and associated cardiovascular risk factors in sub-Saharan African children and adolescents: a scoping review

“…Physical inactivity The rise in the prevalence of childhood and adolescence overweight/obesity has also been linked with an increase in childhood and adolescence sedentary behaviours, mainly due to indoor activities such as computer games, television viewing, and the internet [42,45,47,77,78]. In Ghana, a cross-sectional study among senior high school students aged 15 to 19 years, showed a significant association between physical inactivity and overweight [76].…”

“…Unhealthy diet Regular consumption of an unhealthy diet is a major precursor for obesity, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease. Developing countries, including those in SSA, are not immune to this risk considering the shift from consumption of traditional low-energy density to high-calorie westernized foods [45,80]. This type of diet is rich in refined carbohydrates, saturated fat and sweetened carbonated beverages, with low levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids and fibres [39,41].…”

“…This type of diet is rich in refined carbohydrates, saturated fat and sweetened carbonated beverages, with low levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids and fibres [39,41]. More interestingly, the consumption of sweet foods [40,42,[45][46][47], skipping breakfast [45], eating more than three regular meals per day [46] and eating two snacks per day [45], have been identified as independent determinants of childhood and adolescence overweight/obesity in SSA as in other parts of the World. Children and adolescents are particularly exposed because of the sale of 'fast foods' in school cafeteria [81].…”