Prevalence and determinants of overweight and obesity among in-school adolescents in Harare, Zimbabwe
Copyright © 2022 Pauline Theresa Mapfumo, Tavonga Marilyn Muderedzwa, Tonderayi Mathew Matsungo
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Background: Double burden of malnutrition reflects the co-existence of both under nutrition and obesity at individual, household or community levels. Aims: To assess the prevalence and determinants of overweight and obesity among in-school adolescents aged 15 years from Harare, Zimbabwe. Subjects and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in two schools, involving 111 Form three learners. A structured interviewer administered questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data. Blood glucose and blood pressure levels were determined using a glucometer and sphygmomanometer. Anthropometry indicators were assessed using the WHO standard procedures. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20. Ethical clearance was obtained from the Medical Research Council of Zimbabwe (MRCZ/B/1876). Results: The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 5.4% and short stature (stunting) affected 13.5%. Majority (91.1%) of the learners had adequate nutrition knowledge score. In this study 9.9% learners were pre-diabetic and 51.4% had elevated blood pressure (BP). There was a significant association between overweight and obesity; and waist circumference (P<0.001). Among the learners that were overweight, 83.3% also had higher waist circumference. Conclusions: Overweight and obesity and short stature coexisted among adolescents in this setting, confirming presence of double burden of malnutrition. In addition, girls had central obesity thus at increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, at policy and pragmatic levels there is need for a multi-sectoral response to address malnutrition in all its forms in this age group.
Keywords
How to Cite
Similar Articles
- Association between breakfast intake and short-term memory, performance and mood among Saudi female adolescents
- Nutrition situation of Burkina Faso: a narrative review
- Hypertension in Moroccan adults: sociodemographic, lifestyle, and dietary risk factors
- An update of the nutritional situation in eastern Algeria
- Relationship between intake of energy-dense diets and nutritional status of adolescents in primary schools in Nairobi City County, Kenya
- Nutrient composition of leaves and seeds in selected African Indigenous Vegetables (AIVs): Potential for addressing malnutrition in children under five in Sub-Saharan Africa
- An overview on the nutrition transition and its health implications: Tunisia case
- The Impact of Obesogenic Neighborhood Environments and Maternal Health Literacy on Children's Obesogenic Feeding Attitudes
- Nutritional status among pregnant adolescents at maternity teaching hospital
- Implications of climate-smart aquaculture practices on households’ income and food security in Mwanza and Mara, Tanzania’s Lake Zone
You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.
Most read articles by the same author(s)
- Nutrition in contemporary Zimbabwe: a situational analysis
- Determinants of overweight and obesity among adolescents in Zimbabwe: A scoping review
- Concordance of caregivers and nutritionist MUAC measurements for acute malnutrition screening among children in rural Zimbabwe: A comparative study of the FL-MUAC Approach
NAJFNR is licensed under 