PREVALENCE OF OVERWEIGHT AND OBESITY IN AFRICAN LEARNERS

Abstract

Objective: There is an increasing trend in the global estimates of childhood overweight and obesity presenting major public health crisis in developed and developing countries. We report the results of a systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the prevalence of overweight and obesity among primary school learners residing in Africa according to different diagnostic criteria and population level characteristics.Design and method: A comprehensive search of multiple databases was conducted to identify relevant research conducted between 1980 and 2017. Random effects models were used to pool prevalence data within and across population level characteristics, after variance stabilisation through arcsine transformation. Results: Data from 45 studies across Africa comprising 92,379 and 89,468 participants for overweight and obesity estimates were included in the meta-analysis (see flowchart of the studies selection). The overall overweight prevalence estimates by the major criteria were: 10.5% [95% confidence interval: 7.1–14.3], 9.5% [6.5–13.0] by WHO, 11.5% [9.6–13.4] by IOTF, and 0.5% [0.0–4.5] by CDC respectively and these differed significantly across the various criteria a (p = 0.0027). Prevalence estimates were mostly higher in urban than in rural schools, and in private than in public schools, but generally similar by gender, major geographic region and varied less by time period, or study sample size. There were substantial heterogeneities in the estimates across studies, not always explained by major studies level characteristics. Conclusions: Overweight an obesity are common among school-going African children, particularly those attending urban schools and in private schools. Our results support the urgent need for intervention strategies, policies and programmes to address the lifestyle changes contributing to the growing excess weight in children in this setting.