Association between school-level attributes and weight status of Ghanaian primary school children

BMC Public Health

Anniza De Villiers¹  André Pascal Kengne²  Thandi Puoane³  Theodosia Adom⁴ 

[1] 0000 0000 9155 0024, grid.415021.3, Division of Research Capacity Development, South African Medical Research Council, Cape Town, South Africa;0000 0000 9155 0024, grid.415021.3, Non-communicable Disease Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Cape Town, South Africa;0000 0001 2156 8226, grid.8974.2, School of Public Health, Faculty of Community and Health Sciences, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa;0000 0001 2156 8226, grid.8974.2, School of Public Health, Faculty of Community and Health Sciences, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa;Nutrition Research Centre, Radiological and Medical Sciences Research Institute, Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, Accra, Ghana;

关键词: Body mass index;    Overweight;    Multilevel modelling;    School children;    Ghana;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-019-6937-4

来源: publisher

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundLittle is known about the impact of the school environmental context on the emerging trend of childhood obesity in Africa. We examined the association of the schools’ contextual factors with body mass index (BMI), abdominal obesity and overweight (including obesity) in urban Ghana.MethodUsing cross-sectional data from 543 school children aged 8–11 years attending 14 primary schools, we applied multilevel logistic regressions and linear regression models to investigate the association of child- and school level attributes with overweight, abdominal obesity, and BMI.ResultsWe observed significant variance of the random effects of schools in BMI (2.65, p <  0.05), abdominal obesity (0.85, p <  0.05), and overweight (1.41, p < 0.05), with school contextual levels accounting for 19.7, 20.6, and 30.0% of the total variability observed in BMI, abdominal obesity and overweight respectively. Attending high socioeconomic (SES) level school, private school and school with increased after-school recreational facilities were associated with higher BMI. Children were more likely to be overweight if they attended a high SES level school, had access to healthful foods at school, and after-school recreational facilities. With regards to abdominal obesity, attending a school with increased physical activity facilities decreased the odds of abdominal obesity; however the odds increased if they attended a school with access to after-school recreational facilities.ConclusionA number of school-level factors were associated with BMI, overweight and abdominal obesity of children in the present study. Our results provide support for improved school environment to reduce overweight.

【 授权许可】

CC BY