Health status of primary school educators in low socio-economic areas in South Africa

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dc.contributor.authorSenekal, Marjanne
dc.contributor.authorSeme, Zibuyile
dc.contributor.authorde Villiers, Anniza
dc.contributor.authorSteyn, Nelia P
dc.coverage.spatialSouth Africaen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2015-03-25T06:37:28Z
dc.date.available2015-03-25T06:37:28Z
dc.date.issued2015-02-25
dc.date.updated2015-03-13T19:02:17Z
dc.description.abstractBackground: Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs) are major health concerns in South Africa. According to the life cycle approach NCD prevention strategies should target children. Educators are important external factors influencing behaviour of learners. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of selective NCD risk factors in educators of primary school learners. Methods: A cross-sectional design was used to assess the body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC), blood glucose (BG), cholesterol (BC), blood pressure (BP), perceived health and weight, and parental NCD history of 517 educators in the Western Cape of South Africa. Results: The sample included 40% males and 60% females; 64% urban and 36% rural, 87% were mixed ancestry, 11% white and 2% black. Mean age for the total group was 52 ± 10.1 years, BMI 30 ± 1.2 kg/m2 (31% overweight, 47% obese), diastolic BP 84 ± 10.0 mmHg, systolic BP 134 ± 18.7 mmHg (46% high BP), BG 4.6 ± 2.3 mmol/L (2% high BG), BC 4.4 ± 0.9 (30.4% high BC) and WC 98 ± 14.1 cm for males (38% high WC) and 95 ± 15.3 for females (67% high WC). BMI was higher (p = 0.001) and systolic (p = 0.001) and diastolic (p = 0.005) BP lower in females. Rural educators were more obese (p = 0.001). BMI (p = 0.001) and systolic BP (p = 0.001) were lower in younger educators. Correct awareness of personal health was 65% for BP, 79.2% for BC and 53.3% for BG. Thirty-eight percent overweight/obese females and 33% males perceived their weight as normal. Conclusion: The findings of this study demonstrated a number of characteristics of educators in the two study areas that may influence their risk for developing NCDs and their potential as role models for learners. These included high levels of obesity, high blood pressure, high waist circumference, high cholesterol levels, and high levels of blood glucose. Furthermore, many educators had a wrong perception of their actual body size and a lack of awareness about personal health.
dc.identifier.apacitationSenekal, M., Seme, Z., de Villiers, A., & Steyn, N. P. (2015). Health status of primary school educators in low socio-economic areas in South Africa. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12624en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationSenekal, Marjanne, Zibuyile Seme, Anniza de Villiers, and Nelia P Steyn "Health status of primary school educators in low socio-economic areas in South Africa." (2015) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12624en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationSenekal, Marjanne; Seme, Zibuyile; de Villiers, Anniza and Steyn, Nelia P. (2015) Health status of primary school educators in low socio-economic areas in South Africa. BMC Public Health. 15(1):186-196.
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article AU - Senekal, Marjanne AU - Seme, Zibuyile AU - de Villiers, Anniza AU - Steyn, Nelia P AB - Background: Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs) are major health concerns in South Africa. According to the life cycle approach NCD prevention strategies should target children. Educators are important external factors influencing behaviour of learners. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of selective NCD risk factors in educators of primary school learners. Methods: A cross-sectional design was used to assess the body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC), blood glucose (BG), cholesterol (BC), blood pressure (BP), perceived health and weight, and parental NCD history of 517 educators in the Western Cape of South Africa. Results: The sample included 40% males and 60% females; 64% urban and 36% rural, 87% were mixed ancestry, 11% white and 2% black. Mean age for the total group was 52 ± 10.1 years, BMI 30 ± 1.2 kg/m2 (31% overweight, 47% obese), diastolic BP 84 ± 10.0 mmHg, systolic BP 134 ± 18.7 mmHg (46% high BP), BG 4.6 ± 2.3 mmol/L (2% high BG), BC 4.4 ± 0.9 (30.4% high BC) and WC 98 ± 14.1 cm for males (38% high WC) and 95 ± 15.3 for females (67% high WC). BMI was higher (p = 0.001) and systolic (p = 0.001) and diastolic (p = 0.005) BP lower in females. Rural educators were more obese (p = 0.001). BMI (p = 0.001) and systolic BP (p = 0.001) were lower in younger educators. Correct awareness of personal health was 65% for BP, 79.2% for BC and 53.3% for BG. Thirty-eight percent overweight/obese females and 33% males perceived their weight as normal. Conclusion: The findings of this study demonstrated a number of characteristics of educators in the two study areas that may influence their risk for developing NCDs and their potential as role models for learners. These included high levels of obesity, high blood pressure, high waist circumference, high cholesterol levels, and high levels of blood glucose. Furthermore, many educators had a wrong perception of their actual body size and a lack of awareness about personal health. DA - 2015-02-25 DB - OpenUCT DO - 10.1186/s12889-015-1531-x DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2015 T1 - Health status of primary school educators in low socio-economic areas in South Africa TI - Health status of primary school educators in low socio-economic areas in South Africa UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12624 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/12624
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12889-015-1531-x
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationSenekal M, Seme Z, de Villiers A, Steyn NP. Health status of primary school educators in low socio-economic areas in South Africa. 2015; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12624.en_ZA
dc.language.rfc3066en
dc.publisherBioMed Centralen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDivision of Human Nutritionen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Health Sciencesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 2.0)en_ZA
dc.rights.holderSenekal et al.; licensee BioMed Central.
dc.source.urihttp://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcpublichealth/
dc.subject.lcshEducatorsen_ZA
dc.subject.lcshTeachersen_ZA
dc.subject.lcshChronic diseasesen_ZA
dc.subject.lcshObesityen_ZA
dc.subject.lcshHypertensionen_ZA
dc.subject.lcshDiabetesen_ZA
dc.subject.otherNon-communicable diseasesen_ZA
dc.titleHealth status of primary school educators in low socio-economic areas in South Africa
dc.typeJournal Article
uct.type.filetype
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceArticleen_ZA
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