Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Risk-Factors Associated with Overweight and Obesity Among Adolescents in Selected Urban and Peri-Urban Secondary Schools in Monze, Zambia

2022; Linguagem: Inglês

10.31080/asnh.2022.06.1101

2582-1423

Sophonie Ndahayo, Hikabasa Halwindi, Monique M - Ndahayo,

Public Health and Nutrition

This research article was part of a dissertation that explored overweight and obesity: prevalence, level of awareness and associated risk-factors among adolescents in selected secondary schools in Monze, Zambia.A total of 358 respondents participated in the cross-sectional study.Risk-factors identified included: inadequate time in physical activity, consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, eating fast foods, snacking, irregularity in fruits and vegetables intake, insufficient sleeping hours, skipping breakfast, lack of school-policy to regulated sale and consumption of energy-dense foods and drinks in and around school premises as well as insufficient awareness about overweight and obesity risk-factors among the studied population.It was recommended that schools, parents and other education stakeholders should among other interventions develop and enforce the implementation of a national policy that require schools to create a conducive environment for the prevention and control of overweight and obesity such as Nourishing: based on the understanding that food policies to prevent obesity should aim to improve dietary behaviours by improving the availability, affordability and acceptability of healthy diets and decreasing the availability, affordability and acceptability of unhealthy diets or food and beverage dietary guidelines respectively.