The association between nutrition and physical activity knowledge and weight status of primary school educators

Lucinda Dalais,Catherine E Draper,Anniza De Villiers,Jillian Hill,Zulfa Abrahams,Jean M Fourie,Estelle V Lambert,Nelia P Steyn

doi:10.15700/201409161057

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate primary school educators’ health status, knowledge, perceptions and behaviour regarding nutrition and physical activity.Thus, nutrition and physical activity knowledge, attitudes, behaviour and risk factors for the development of non-communicable diseases of 155 educators were assessed in a cross-sectional survey. Height, weight, waist circumference, blood pressure and random glucose levels were measured. Twenty percent of the sample had normal weight (body mass index (BMI, kg/m²) 82 cm: 57.4%). Educators’ nutrition and physical activity knowledge was poor. Sixty-nine percent of educators incorrectly believed that eating starchy foods causes weight gain and only 15% knew that one should eat five or more fruit and/or vegetables per day. Aspects of poor nutritional knowledge, misconceptions regarding actual body weight status, and challenges in changing health behaviours, emerged as issues which need to be addressed among educators. Educators’ high risk for developing chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) may impact on educator absenteeism and subsequently on school functioning. The aspects of poor nutrition and physical activity knowledge along with educators’ high risk for NCD development may be particularly significant not merely in relation to their personal health but also the learners they teach. Keywords : body weight, educators, health, knowledge, non-communicable diseases, nutrition, perceptions, physical activity, primary schools, risk factors

Highlights

Overweight and obesity impact on the health of populations globally, as they are major risk factors for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as type-2 diabetes, certain cancers, heart disease and stroke (World Health Organization (WHO), 2008)
The South African population has not been immune to the onslaught of NCDs and currently has a quadruple burden of disease which includes NCDs, Human Immunosuppressive Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), injury-related deaths and other infectious diseases (Bradshaw, Steyn, Levitt & Nojilana, 2011)
Many educators were younger than 45 years (54.2%), female (78.1%), from an urban area (50.3%), and had high blood pressure (BP) (50.3%) and a large waist circumference (WC) (57.4%)

Summary

Introduction

Overweight and obesity impact on the health of populations globally, as they are major risk factors for NCDs such as type-2 diabetes, certain cancers, heart disease and stroke (World Health Organization (WHO), 2008). 80% of NCD deaths are in low- and middle-income countries and it is projected that without intervention, NCD deaths will increase by 17% between 2005 and 2015 (WHO, 2005). The South African population has not been immune to the onslaught of NCDs and currently has a quadruple burden of disease which includes NCDs, Human Immunosuppressive Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), injury-related deaths and other infectious diseases (Bradshaw, Steyn, Levitt & Nojilana, 2011). Preventing and managing NCDs in South Africa has been side-lined because of the focus on HIV/AIDS and the high prevalence of tuberculosis (Mayosi, Flischer, Lalloo, Sitas, Tollman & Bradshaw, 2009). In South Africa and other low- and middle-income countries, a significant increase in deaths attributable to NCDs is projected to occur in the coming decades (Abedunde, Mathers, Adam, Ortegon & Strong, 2007). There is the assumption that the medical costs of a country could increase along with premature deaths in the population if obesity became a norm in terms of the average body weight (Algazy, Gipstein, Riahi & Tryon, 2010)

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