Assessing the prevalence and determinants of childhood overweight and obesity among basic school pupils in Effutu municipality

Abstract

Childhood obesity is one of the serious public health challenges of the 21st century owing to its higher prevalence and the complications that are associated with it. Urban cities in Ghana have experienced a gradual increase in the rate of prevalence in childhood obesity and overweight. The study aimed to assess the prevalence and risk factors of overweight and obesity among basic school pupils in Effutu Municipality. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Effutu Municipality. Multi stage sampling technique was used to select a total of 333 basic school pupils from primary four to primary six. Pre-tested questionnaires and anthropometric data gathering methods were used in data collection. Data were analysed using both inferential and descriptive statistics. The overall combined prevalence of overweight and obesity among the basic pupils in Effutu Municipality was 15.6 %. Findings show that being male or female had no association with being overweight or obese. Combined overweight and obesity prevalence was higher in private schools compared to public schools (21.1 % vs. 9.1 %, p < 0.001). Among the various socio-demographic factors which were tested, the age of respondents, number of siblings, family history of obesity, educational attainment of their mothers and occupation of their mothers, and how much money given to pupils were the factors that were significantly associated with overweight/obesity at the bivariate level. Family history of obesity and occupation their mothers were significantly associated with overweight/obesity at the multivariate level. Getting food from the school feeding program, and bedtime had a significant association with overweight at the bivariate level whereas having a snack at lunchtime and buying food in school had a positive association with obesity on the multivariate level. Also, getting food from the school feeding program, and the time the pupils went to bed had a positive association with obesity on the bivariate level while the time the pupil had their last meals and the time, they went to bed had a positive association with obesity at the multivariate level. School-based interventions such as physical education is needed to promote healthy lifestyles among school children. Parents of pupils in private schools need to be educated by the Ghana Health Service about the prevalence of overweight/obesity in their wards, the consequences of overweight/obesity in the life of their wards. This would go a long way to help the parent to reduce the obesogenic environment around their kids as well control the type of food their wards consume.