Prevalence of overweight and obesity in six to nine years old primary school children in Mpumalanga province, South Africa

Abstract

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to examine the prevalence of overweight and obesity in 902 (429 girls and 473 boys) ‘Quintile Three’ primary school children in Mpumalanga province, South Africa.Anthropometric assessment of weight and height was conducted in accordance with the American College of Sports Medicine’s standardised procedures. The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) criteria were used to extrapolate BMI percentiles according to age and gender for each child. Means and standard deviations were reported for age and gender cohorts. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was computed to determine significance of intergroup BMI percentile differences. Optimal weight was obtained in 79% of the children. Overweight prevalence was 11%, obesity rate was 7% and underweight occurred in 3% of the children. Statistically significant BMI differences were evident between age cohorts (p=0.047), but not across gender groups (p=0.678).

Keywords: BMI, overweight, obesity, black South African children, CDCP growth charts, percentiles.