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An Unhealthy, Obesogenic Lifestyle: A Case Study of Urban Primary School Children in Kwekwe, Zimbabwe

Received: 16 January 2017     Accepted: 1 April 2017     Published: 17 January 2018
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Abstract

Objectives: To determine the socio-demographic and anthropometric characteristics of 9-11 years old children in relation to their tuck-shop purchasing habits. Methods: A cross-sectional research design using a pre-designed questionnaire was administered to Grades 3, 4 & 5 children and two tuck shop managers from group A schools. Weight and height were measured through standardized techniques and body mass index (BMI) was calculated. BMI was interpreted in relation to tuck-shop purchasing habits. The distributions of blood pressure by anthropometric characteristics were examined. Mean, standard deviation, Pearson’s correlation coefficient and Chi square were used for statistical analysis using SPSS 20.0 software. Results: The sample comprised 53.01% females (n = 334) and 46.98% males (n = 296). The children’s mean age was 9.8 (± 0.44) years, with a mean body mass index (BMI) of 20.5 (± 4.6) kg/m2 for girls and 19.7 (± 4.9) kg/m2 for boys. Basing on BMI, 27% of the male subjects were predominantly overweight, whereas 28.4% of the female subjects were more prone to obesity. Out of the total population, 26.4% of the children reported that they frequently purchase from the tuckshop. There was a positive significant (p <0.013) association existed between the BMI and the frequency of purchasing from the tuckshop. Purchasing times continued to be unassociated to perceived health status despite that items purchased and age were inversely associated students’ food consumption (Item purchased: OR= 1.12, CI= 1.03 – 1.13, p = 0.001; Age OR= 1.06, CI= 1.02 – 1.12, p = 0.001) An average of USD$0.50 or ZAR5 is spent by children at the tuck-shop on a daily basis. Conclusion: Poor tuck-shop purchasing practices by primary school children contribute to the development of childhood overweight and obesity. Despite, schools covering nutrition in their educational curriculum, their tuck shops stocked poor nutritional quality items which were used to generate revenue/profit. Therefore, school management has a vital role in imposing restrictions over trading of unhealthy items to school children. Also, there is need to improve the nutrition educational curriculum in lower grade levels to ensure that they adopt healthier purchasing practices.

Published in Science Journal of Public Health (Volume 6, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.sjph.20180602.11
Page(s) 35-42
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2018. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Overweight, Childhood Obesity, Body Mass Index, Group a Schools, Tuck-Shop Purchasing Practices

References
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Dube Adiele, Gundani Patrick Morgan, Lunga Mande Carolyne. (2018). An Unhealthy, Obesogenic Lifestyle: A Case Study of Urban Primary School Children in Kwekwe, Zimbabwe. Science Journal of Public Health, 6(2), 35-42. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20180602.11

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    ACS Style

    Dube Adiele; Gundani Patrick Morgan; Lunga Mande Carolyne. An Unhealthy, Obesogenic Lifestyle: A Case Study of Urban Primary School Children in Kwekwe, Zimbabwe. Sci. J. Public Health 2018, 6(2), 35-42. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20180602.11

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    AMA Style

    Dube Adiele, Gundani Patrick Morgan, Lunga Mande Carolyne. An Unhealthy, Obesogenic Lifestyle: A Case Study of Urban Primary School Children in Kwekwe, Zimbabwe. Sci J Public Health. 2018;6(2):35-42. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20180602.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.sjph.20180602.11,
      author = {Dube Adiele and Gundani Patrick Morgan and Lunga Mande Carolyne},
      title = {An Unhealthy, Obesogenic Lifestyle: A Case Study of Urban Primary School Children in Kwekwe, Zimbabwe},
      journal = {Science Journal of Public Health},
      volume = {6},
      number = {2},
      pages = {35-42},
      doi = {10.11648/j.sjph.20180602.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20180602.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.sjph.20180602.11},
      abstract = {Objectives:  To determine the socio-demographic and anthropometric characteristics of 9-11 years old children in relation to their tuck-shop purchasing habits. Methods:  A cross-sectional research design using a pre-designed questionnaire was administered to Grades 3, 4 & 5 children and two tuck shop managers from group A schools. Weight and height were measured through standardized techniques and body mass index (BMI) was calculated. BMI was interpreted in relation to tuck-shop purchasing habits. The distributions of blood pressure by anthropometric characteristics were examined. Mean, standard deviation, Pearson’s correlation coefficient and Chi square were used for statistical analysis using SPSS 20.0 software. Results:  The sample comprised 53.01% females (n = 334) and 46.98% males (n = 296). The children’s mean age was 9.8 (± 0.44) years, with a mean body mass index (BMI) of 20.5 (± 4.6) kg/m2 for girls and 19.7 (± 4.9) kg/m2 for boys. Basing on BMI, 27% of the male subjects were predominantly overweight, whereas 28.4% of the female subjects were more prone to obesity. Out of the total population, 26.4% of the children reported that they frequently purchase from the tuckshop. There was a positive significant (p <0.013) association existed between the BMI and the frequency of purchasing from the tuckshop. Purchasing times continued to be unassociated to perceived health status despite that items purchased and age were inversely associated students’ food consumption (Item purchased: OR= 1.12, CI= 1.03 – 1.13, p = 0.001; Age OR= 1.06, CI= 1.02 – 1.12, p = 0.001) An average of USD$0.50 or ZAR5 is spent by children at the tuck-shop on a daily basis. Conclusion: Poor tuck-shop purchasing practices by primary school children contribute to the development of childhood overweight and obesity. Despite, schools covering nutrition in their educational curriculum, their tuck shops stocked poor nutritional quality items which were used to generate revenue/profit. Therefore, school management has a vital role in imposing restrictions over trading of unhealthy items to school children. Also, there is need to improve the nutrition educational curriculum in lower grade levels to ensure that they adopt healthier purchasing practices.},
     year = {2018}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - An Unhealthy, Obesogenic Lifestyle: A Case Study of Urban Primary School Children in Kwekwe, Zimbabwe
    AU  - Dube Adiele
    AU  - Gundani Patrick Morgan
    AU  - Lunga Mande Carolyne
    Y1  - 2018/01/17
    PY  - 2018
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20180602.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.sjph.20180602.11
    T2  - Science Journal of Public Health
    JF  - Science Journal of Public Health
    JO  - Science Journal of Public Health
    SP  - 35
    EP  - 42
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-7950
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20180602.11
    AB  - Objectives:  To determine the socio-demographic and anthropometric characteristics of 9-11 years old children in relation to their tuck-shop purchasing habits. Methods:  A cross-sectional research design using a pre-designed questionnaire was administered to Grades 3, 4 & 5 children and two tuck shop managers from group A schools. Weight and height were measured through standardized techniques and body mass index (BMI) was calculated. BMI was interpreted in relation to tuck-shop purchasing habits. The distributions of blood pressure by anthropometric characteristics were examined. Mean, standard deviation, Pearson’s correlation coefficient and Chi square were used for statistical analysis using SPSS 20.0 software. Results:  The sample comprised 53.01% females (n = 334) and 46.98% males (n = 296). The children’s mean age was 9.8 (± 0.44) years, with a mean body mass index (BMI) of 20.5 (± 4.6) kg/m2 for girls and 19.7 (± 4.9) kg/m2 for boys. Basing on BMI, 27% of the male subjects were predominantly overweight, whereas 28.4% of the female subjects were more prone to obesity. Out of the total population, 26.4% of the children reported that they frequently purchase from the tuckshop. There was a positive significant (p <0.013) association existed between the BMI and the frequency of purchasing from the tuckshop. Purchasing times continued to be unassociated to perceived health status despite that items purchased and age were inversely associated students’ food consumption (Item purchased: OR= 1.12, CI= 1.03 – 1.13, p = 0.001; Age OR= 1.06, CI= 1.02 – 1.12, p = 0.001) An average of USD$0.50 or ZAR5 is spent by children at the tuck-shop on a daily basis. Conclusion: Poor tuck-shop purchasing practices by primary school children contribute to the development of childhood overweight and obesity. Despite, schools covering nutrition in their educational curriculum, their tuck shops stocked poor nutritional quality items which were used to generate revenue/profit. Therefore, school management has a vital role in imposing restrictions over trading of unhealthy items to school children. Also, there is need to improve the nutrition educational curriculum in lower grade levels to ensure that they adopt healthier purchasing practices.
    VL  - 6
    IS  - 2
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Emergency Medical Care, Emergency Medical Ambulances Services, Kwekwe, Zimbabwe

  • Department of Sports Science and Coaching, Faculty of Applied Sciences, National University of Science and Technology, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

  • Department of Journalism and Media Studies, Faculty of Communication and Information Sciences, National University of Science and Technology, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

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