Obesity and overweight in South African primary school children - the Health of the Nation Study

dc.contributor.authorArmstrong, M E G
dc.contributor.authorLambert, M I
dc.contributor.authorSharwood, K A
dc.contributor.authorLambert, E V
dc.date.accessioned2017-05-18T07:13:15Z
dc.date.available2017-05-18T07:13:15Z
dc.date.issued2006
dc.date.updated2016-01-08T08:36:52Z
dc.description.abstractObjectives. To determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity in a sample of South African children aged 6 - 13 years. Design. Random sampling of schools within each provincial and socio-economic category. Setting. Primary school children from 5 South African provinces. Subjects. 10 195 (5 611 male and 4 584 female) primary school children. Outcome measure. Height and weight were measured and body mass index (BMI) (weight (kg)/height (m)2 ) was calculated for each grouping (age x gender x ethnic group). Cut-off points for BMI defining obese and overweight for gender and age (6 - 13 years) were calculated in accordance with international standards. Results. There were significant differences in height and mass between the different ethnic groups and genders. This trend was not evident for the BMI values. The prevalence of obesity within the sample was 3.2% for boys and 4.9% for girls, whereas overweight prevalence was 14.0% for boys and 17.9% for girls. When the contribution of each ethnic group was adjusted to the demographics of South Africa these values were only slightly different. The prevalence of obesity and overweight among boys was 2.4% and 10.9% respectively, while obese and overweight girls comprised 4.8% and 17.5%, respectively. Conclusions. South African children show trends of obesity and overweight, similar to values in developed countries about 10 years ago. Intervention strategies to combat an increasingly sedentary lifestyle may need to be developed for the South African context.
dc.identifierhttp://dx.doi.org/10.7196/SAMJ.1131
dc.identifier.apacitationArmstrong, M. E. G., 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. <i>South African Medical Journal</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/11427/24353en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationArmstrong, M E G, M I Lambert, K A Sharwood, and E V Lambert "Obesity and overweight in South African primary school children - the Health of the Nation Study." <i>South African Medical Journal</i> (2006) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/24353en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationArmstrong, M., Lambert, M., Sharwood, K., & Lambert, E. (2008). Obesity and overweight in South African primary school children - the health of the Nation study. South African Medical Journal, 96(5), 439.
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article AU - Armstrong, M E G AU - Lambert, M I AU - Sharwood, K A AU - Lambert, E V AB - Objectives. To determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity in a sample of South African children aged 6 - 13 years. Design. Random sampling of schools within each provincial and socio-economic category. Setting. Primary school children from 5 South African provinces. Subjects. 10 195 (5 611 male and 4 584 female) primary school children. Outcome measure. Height and weight were measured and body mass index (BMI) (weight (kg)/height (m)2 ) was calculated for each grouping (age x gender x ethnic group). Cut-off points for BMI defining obese and overweight for gender and age (6 - 13 years) were calculated in accordance with international standards. Results. There were significant differences in height and mass between the different ethnic groups and genders. This trend was not evident for the BMI values. The prevalence of obesity within the sample was 3.2% for boys and 4.9% for girls, whereas overweight prevalence was 14.0% for boys and 17.9% for girls. When the contribution of each ethnic group was adjusted to the demographics of South Africa these values were only slightly different. The prevalence of obesity and overweight among boys was 2.4% and 10.9% respectively, while obese and overweight girls comprised 4.8% and 17.5%, respectively. Conclusions. South African children show trends of obesity and overweight, similar to values in developed countries about 10 years ago. Intervention strategies to combat an increasingly sedentary lifestyle may need to be developed for the South African context. DA - 2006 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town J1 - South African Medical Journal LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2006 T1 - Obesity and overweight in South African primary school children - the Health of the Nation Study TI - Obesity and overweight in South African primary school children - the Health of the Nation Study UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/24353 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/24353
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationArmstrong MEG, Lambert MI, Sharwood KA, Lambert EV. Obesity and overweight in South African primary school children - the Health of the Nation Study. South African Medical Journal. 2006; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/24353.en_ZA
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisher.departmentMRC/UCT RU for Exercise and Sport Medicineen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Health Sciencesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.sourceSouth African Medical Journal
dc.source.urihttp://www.samj.org.za/index.php/samj
dc.subject.otherSouth Africa
dc.subject.otherPrevalence
dc.subject.otherChildren
dc.subject.otherObesity
dc.subject.otherOverweight
dc.titleObesity and overweight in South African primary school children - the Health of the Nation Study
dc.typeJournal Articleen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceArticleen_ZA
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