Abstract
BackgroundIn Sub-Saharan Africa, most nutrition efforts have concentrated on under-nutrition in children. However, national surveys rarely report the high prevalence of overweight and obesity among children. Likewise, in Ethiopia there is growing recognition of the emergence of a “double-burden” of malnutrition, with under and over nutrition occurring simultaneously among children, especially allied with improvements in socio-economic conditions. Hence, the study aimed to assess the prevalence and factors associated with overweight and obesity among private kindergarten school children aged 3–6 years in Bahirdar town, Northwest Ethiopia.MethodsA school-based cross sectional study was conducted in Bahirdar Town, northwest Ethiopia from August to September, 2015. Anthropometric measurements such as weight and height were taken from 462 private Kindergarten preschool children aged 3–6 years; socio-economic and demographic factors and feeding practices were collected by interviewing the, mothers or caregivers of the children. The z-score values for BMI-for-age of children were generated using Emergency Nutrition Assessment (ENA) for Standardized Monitoring and Assessment of Relief Transitions (SMART) 2011. Binary logistic regression model was used to identify factors associated with overweight and obesity in children. Odds ratio with 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated to show the strength of association.ResultsThe overall prevalence of overweight and obesity was 6.9% [95% CI 2.4, 11.4]. The prevalence of overweight and obesity were 4.1 and 2.8%, respectively. The odds of overweight and obesity was higher among children with high dietary diversity score (DDS) [AOR = 5.12, 95% CI 1.42, 18.47], family size of less than five [AOR = 4.76, 95% CI 1.84, 12.31] and a family having a private car [AOR = 3.43, 95% CI 1.02, 11.49].ConclusionsThe prevalence of overweight and obesity among private kindergarten preschool children in the study area was high. Interventions on improving feeding practice and doing physical activities are important for the control of overweight and obesity among children in urban settings.
Highlights
In Sub-Saharan Africa, most nutrition efforts have concentrated on under-nutrition in children
Studies in developing countries have shown that the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children are increasing overtime and it varies from country to country 20.1% in Kenya [8], 21.1% in urban Vietnam [9], 23.6% in Nigeria [10], 9% in the Recife Metropolitan Region [11] and 8.42% in Punjab India [12]
The study found that a family size less than five [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 4.76, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.84, 12.31] was associated with increased risk of overweight and obesity among children compared to family size of greater than five
Summary
In Sub-Saharan Africa, most nutrition efforts have concentrated on under-nutrition in children. In Ethiopia there is growing recognition of the emergence of a “double-burden” of malnutrition, with under and over nutrition occurring simultaneously among children, especially allied with improvements in socio-economic conditions. In developing countries there is a growing recognition of the emergence of a “double burden” of malnutrition, with under and over nutrition occurring simultaneously among children, allied with improvement of economic conditions [5]. In sub-Saharan Africa including Ethiopia, most nutrition efforts have still concentrated on undernutrition in children [3, 6, 7]. According to the Ethiopian demography and health survey (EDHS) 2014 mini report, the prevalence of obesity among children under five years of age was 5% in Benishangul Gumuz and 6% in Addis Ababa [13]. The combined prevalence of overweight and obesity among children aged 3–6 years was 10.7% in southern Ethiopia [14]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
