Dietary Habits and Physical Activity Patterns in Relation to Nutritional Status Among School-aged Children in Pakistan: A Cross-sectional Study

Overview

Journal AIMS Public Health

Specialty Public Health

Date 2023 Oct 16

PMID 37842276

Authors

Saleem Qureshi

Musarrat Iqbal

Azra Rafiq

Hamna Ahmed

Tooba Malik

Muhammad Nasir Kalam

Muhammad Abdullah

Qirtas Tauheed

Muhammad Daoud Butt

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Childhood malnutrition remains a significant public health problem impacting the physical and mental growth if school aged children, particularly in limited-resource countries.

Objective: The study objective was to assess levels of physical activity, patterns of screen time (S.T.), the relationship between physical activity and screen time patterns, and how these factors affect growth status (adjusting for socioeconomic status).

Methodology: A cross-sectional study included 3,834 children between 6-14 years attending pre-selected schools. Teachers, students, and parents were invited to fill out a standardized questionnaire, and Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated using Center for disease control (CDC) centile charts. A Chi-square was performed to see the possible association between any height and weight abnormalities and all possible risk factors. Multivariate logistic regression was applied to see the effect of variables significantly associated with univariate analysis.

Results: Approximately 2,447 (63.8%) children were between 11-14 years old and 1,387 (36.2%) were between 4-10 years old. The mean height was 143.71 ± 16.51 centimetres, the mean weight was 36.5 ± 12.9 kilogram, and the mean BMI was 17.16 ± 3.52. Multivariate logistic regression status and junk food combined affected stunting socioeconomic status was significantly associated with being underweight = 0.001.

Conclusion: Childhood obesity and stunting remain significant problems in Pakistani school-going children. These are significantly associated with poverty, a lack of physical activity opportunities, and available food quality.

References

Jafar T, Qadri Z, Islam M, Hatcher J, Bhutta Z, Chaturvedi N . Rise in childhood obesity with persistently high rates of undernutrition among urban school-aged Indo-Asian children. Arch Dis Child. 2007; 93(5):373-8. PMC: 2532954. DOI: 10.1136/adc.2007.125641. View

Sanyaolu A, Okorie C, Qi X, Locke J, Rehman S . Childhood and Adolescent Obesity in the United States: A Public Health Concern. Glob Pediatr Health. 2019; 6:2333794X19891305. PMC: 6887808. DOI: 10.1177/2333794X19891305. View

Black R, Victora C, Walker S, Bhutta Z, Christian P, de Onis M . Maternal and child undernutrition and overweight in low-income and middle-income countries. Lancet. 2013; 382(9890):427-451. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(13)60937-X. View

Warraich H, Javed F, Faraz-Ul-Haq M, Khawaja F, Saleem S . Prevalence of obesity in school-going children of Karachi. PLoS One. 2009; 4(3):e4816. PMC: 2655713. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0004816. View

Owusu-Dabo E, McNeill A, Lewis S, Gilmore A, Britton J . Status of implementation of Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in Ghana: a qualitative study. BMC Public Health. 2010; 10:1. PMC: 2822823. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2458-10-1. View

Keusch G, Rosenberg I, Denno D, Duggan C, Guerrant R, Lavery J . Implications of acquired environmental enteric dysfunction for growth and stunting in infants and children living in low- and middle-income countries. Food Nutr Bull. 2013; 34(3):357-64. PMC: 4643688. DOI: 10.1177/156482651303400308. View

Safa F, Anjum A, Hossain S, Trisa T, Alam S, Rafi M . Immediate psychological responses during the initial period of the COVID-19 pandemic among Bangladeshi medical students. Child Youth Serv Rev. 2021; 122:105912. PMC: 7769705. DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105912. View

Tremblay M, LeBlanc A, Kho M, Saunders T, Larouche R, Colley R . Systematic review of sedentary behaviour and health indicators in school-aged children and youth. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2011; 8:98. PMC: 3186735. DOI: 10.1186/1479-5868-8-98. View

Biddle S, Gorely T, Pearson N, Bull F . An assessment of self-reported physical activity instruments in young people for population surveillance: Project ALPHA. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2011; 8:1. PMC: 3019119. DOI: 10.1186/1479-5868-8-1. View

Iqbal K, Islam N, Mehboobali N, Asghar A, Iqbal S, Iqbal M . Relationship of sociodemographic factors with serum levels of vitamin D in a healthy population of Pakistan. Pak J Pharm Sci. 2019; 32(1):29-33. View

Kwabla M, Gyan C, Zotor F . Nutritional status of in-school children and its associated factors in Denkyembour District, eastern region, Ghana: comparing schools with feeding and non-school feeding policies. Nutr J. 2018; 17(1):8. PMC: 5767048. DOI: 10.1186/s12937-018-0321-6. View

10.

Saad R, Al Nsour M, Khader Y, Al Gunaid M . Public Health Surveillance Systems in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: Bibliometric Analysis of Scientific Literature. JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2021; 7(11):e32639. PMC: 8593796. DOI: 10.2196/32639. View

11.

Abdullah N, Teo P, Foo L . Ethnic Differences in the Food Intake Patterns and Its Associated Factors of Adolescents in Kelantan, Malaysia. Nutrients. 2016; 8(9). PMC: 5037536. DOI: 10.3390/nu8090551. View

12.

Vollmer S, Harttgen K, Subramanyam M, Finlay J, Klasen S, Subramanian S . Association between economic growth and early childhood undernutrition: evidence from 121 Demographic and Health Surveys from 36 low-income and middle-income countries. Lancet Glob Health. 2014; 2(4):e225-34. DOI: 10.1016/S2214-109X(14)70025-7. View

12.

Benard M, Baudry J, Mejean C, Lairon D, Virecoulon Giudici K, Etile F . Association between time perspective and organic food consumption in a large sample of adults. Nutr J. 2018; 17(1):1. PMC: 5755405. DOI: 10.1186/s12937-017-0311-0. View

13.

Aziz S, Hosain K . Carbohydrate (CHO), protein and fat intake of healthy Pakistani school children in a 24 hour period. J Pak Med Assoc. 2015; 64(11):1255-9. View

13.

Rutten G, Savelberg H, Biddle S, Kremers S . Interrupting long periods of sitting: good STUFF. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2013; 10:1. PMC: 3542098. DOI: 10.1186/1479-5868-10-1. View

14.

He M, Evans A . Are parents aware that their children are overweight or obese? Do they care?. Can Fam Physician. 2007; 53(9):1493-9. PMC: 2234629. View

15.

Colley R, Garriguet D, Adamo K, Carson V, Janssen I, Timmons B . Physical activity and sedentary behavior during the early years in Canada: a cross-sectional study. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2013; 10:54. PMC: 3655822. DOI: 10.1186/1479-5868-10-54. View

16.

Ellis A, McClintic E, Awino E, Caruso B, Arriola K, Ventura S . Practices and Perspectives on Latrine Use, Child Feces Disposal, and Clean Play Environments in Western Kenya. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2020; 102(5):1094-1103. PMC: 7204574. DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.19-0389. View