Association between school-level attributes and weight status of Ghanaian primary school children

Individual and school correlates of body mass index and cardiorespiratory fitness in primary school children from the REACT project: A multivariate multilevel analysis

OBJECTIVE

This paper examines the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) using a multivariate multilevel approach and investigates the links between individual and school-related correlates with children's BMI and CRF.

METHODS

This cross-sectional sample included 1014 children (6-10 years) from 25 Portuguese primary schools. BMI was calculated, and CRF was assessed with the PACER test. Fundamental movement skills (FMS) included five object control tasks. Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), sleep, and sedentary time were assessed with the ActiGraph wGT3X-BT accelerometer. Socioeconomic status (SES) and school variables were also obtained. A multivariate multilevel model was used, and alpha was set at 5%.

RESULTS

BMI and CRF systematically increased with age. Most of the joint variance (94.4%) was explained at the child level, and BMI and CRF were correlated at this level (ρ = -.37). More active children demonstrated higher CRF levels and had lower BMI levels; sedentary and sleep time were not significantly associated with BMI or CRF. FMS were positively associated with CRF but were not significantly associated with BMI. Children at higher SES were more fit and had lower BMI than their peers of lower SES. Finally, school-level variables were not significantly related to BMI and CRF.

CONCLUSION

BMI and CRF had a low but statistically significant negative correlation in this sample of children. Most of the variation in BMI and CRF was explained by child-level characteristics.

Effect of school-based nutrition interventions among primary school children in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review protocol

INTRODUCTION

Preadolescents are passing through an intensive growth and development period that will benefit from healthy eating practices. For those attending school, school environments offer several potential benefits and have been demonstrated to influence the quality of dietary intakes and consequentially, nutritional status of school-aged children (SAC). Considering the amount of time children spend in school and the enormous potential of evidence-based interventions, the purpose of this review is to critically appraise peer-reviewed literature addressing the impact of school-based interventions on the nutritional status of SAC aged 6-12 years in sub-Saharan Africa.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

A systematic search will be conducted in the following databases and online search records: Medline, CINAHL, Web of Science, Embase, Global health, Global Index Medicus, Cochrane library, Hinari and Google Scholar using search terms and keywords codeveloped with two librarians. An additional search will also be conducted from the reference list of identified literature. Search results of titles and abstracts will be initially screened for eligibility criteria by two independent reviewers and where there is disagreement, a third reviewer will be consulted. Articles meeting these criteria will then undergo a full-text review for the eligibility and exclusion criteria. The Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal tool will be used to assess the risk of bias. Data from articles meeting all study criteria will be extracted, analysed and synthesised. A meta-analysis will also be conducted if sufficient data are available.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

This systematic review is limited to publicly accessible data bases not requiring prior ethical approval to access. The results of the systematic review will be disseminated through publications in peer-reviewed journals as well as conference and stakeholder presentations.

PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER

CRD42022334829.

Prevalence of Obesity and Overweight among School-Aged Children in Saudi Arabia and Its Association with Vitamin D Status

BACKGROUND

Childhood obesity is a significant global public health problem. Worldwide data showed an increasing trend over the years. We aimed to explore the prevalence of obesity, and its association with vitamin D status.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was conducted during the period from 2016 to 2017. The study included 3613 schoolchildren aged 6-19 years in the western, central, and eastern regions in Saudi Arabia. Anthropometric data including age, sex and body mass index (BMI) was collected and the serum 25OH- vitamin D (25OHD) was measured. Age-sex standardized BMI Z-scores using the 2007 World Health Organization growth standards were applied.

RESULTS

Data from 3613 school-aged children (females = 51.8%), with equal percentage of participants from each region were analyzed. Prevalence of obesity and overweight was estimated at 7.1% and 14.4% respectively. An increasing trend was detected with age (p: 0.006). Obesity started to increase at the age of 10 years and continued to increase until 19 years. Most of the obese children (64.2%) had deficient vitamin D levels, compared to 33.7% of them with suboptimal levels and only 2.0% with optimal levels (p: <0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

This large cohort study revealed a high prevalence (21.5%) of obesity and overweight in school children aged between 6-19 years with increasing trend with age.  Children with high BMI showed extremely high prevalence of VDD and VDI. These findings are alarming and point to the need for effective national interventions that include improving and encouraging access to physical activity and exposure to sunlight, educational activities for students, parents, and schoolteachers and possible enrichment of staple food with vitamin D.

Association between the school environment and children's body mass index in Terengganu: A cross sectional study

With the on-going interest in implementing school policies to address the problem of childhood obesity in Malaysia, there is urgent need for information about the association between school environment and children’s weight status. This study aims to investigate the association between school environmental factors (physical, economic, political and sociocultural) with BMI of school children in Terengganu. The school environment factors were assessed using a set of validated whole-school environmental mapping questionnaires, consisting of 76 criteria with four domains; physical environment (41 criteria), economic environment (nine criteria), political environment (nine criteria) and sociocultural environment (17 criteria). This involved face-to-face interview sessions with 32 teachers from 16 schools (eight rural and eight urban). In addition, 400 school children aged between 9 and 11 years of the selected schools were assessed for BMI (WHO 2007 reference chart), dietary intake (food frequency questionnaire (FFQ)) and physical activity level (physical activity questionnaire for children (PAQ-C)). Multiple regression was used to examine the association between school environment factors and BMI of the school children. Seven school environment criteria were found to be associated with BMI of school children when it was adjusted for calorie intake and physical activity level. About 33.4% of the variation in BMI of school children was explained by health professional involvement, simple exercise before class, encouragement to walk/ride bicycle to/from school, no high-calorie food sold, healthy options of foods and drinks at tuck shop, availability of policy on physical activity and training teacher as a role model. Policy makers should make urgent actions to address the obesogenic features of school environments. It should strive towards setting up healthy school environment and improving school curricula to promote healthy behaviours among the school children.