Determinants of overweight and obesity among urban school-going children and adolescents: a case-control study in Bangladesh

Overweight and obesity and associated factors among public and private secondary school adolescent students in Harar city, Eastern Ethiopia: A comparative cross-sectional study

Adolescent overweight and obesity are growing public health concerns in developing nations like Ethiopia. They are closely linked to an increased risk of non-communicable diseases, a deterioration in health-related quality of life, subpar academic performance, and a decline in social and emotional well-being. There is, however, little research in this field. Thus, this study aimed to assess overweight and obesity and associated factors among public and private secondary school adolescent students in Harar city, Eastern Ethiopia. A school-based comparative cross-sectional study was conducted among 781 secondary school adolescents in Harar city from February to March 2022. Multi-stage sampling was used to identify 781 study participants (586 in public and 195 in private schools). Anthropometric measures and self-administered structured questionnaires were used to obtain the data. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression were used to determine the association between independent variables and overweight and obesity. Statistical significance was declared at P < .05. The overall magnitude of overweight and obesity was 9.3% [95% confidence interval (CI) = 7.2-11.4%] with 16.2% in private schools. Being female [adjusted odd ratio (AOR) = 2.04, 95% CI: 1.17-3.55], late adolescent age [AOR = 0.53, 95% CI: 0.31-0.90], bigger family size [AOR = 0.55, 95% CI: 0.31-0.97], high paternal education level [AOR = 2.03, 95% CI: 1.08-3.81], eating meat [AOR = 3.41, 95% CI: 1.27-9.17] and not consuming breakfast daily [AOR = 2.13, 95% CI: 1.24-3.67] were factors associated with overweight and obesity among all secondary school adolescents. A high maternal educational level, not eating breakfast and dinner daily in private secondary school adolescents and having a feminine gender, eating eggs, and not walking or riding a bicycle for at least 10 minutes continuously in public secondary school adolescents were factors associated with overweight and obesity. The extent of overweight and obesity was notably higher in the study area. Communities and educational institutions should work together to promote healthy lifestyle choices among adolescents, with a special emphasis on girls and students enrolled in private schools.

Association of sleep duration and sleep quality with overweight/obesity among adolescents of Bangladesh: a multilevel analysis

Background

Sleep deprivation is widely recognized as a potential contributor to childhood obesity. However, few studies have addressed this issue in low-income settings. The aim of this study was to determine the association of both sleep duration and sleep quality with overweight/obesity among adolescents of Bangladesh.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted in four randomly selected schools in Gazipur, Bangladesh, from May to August 2019. Using a self-administered semi-structured questionnaire, data on sleep duration and sleep quality were collected from 1,044 adolescents between 13 and 17 years of age. The body mass indices of the study participants were evaluated using their objectively-assessed anthropometric measurements (weight and height). Multilevel logistic regression was used for data analysis.

Results

The prevalence of underweight, overweight and obesity in adolescents in this study were 14.9, 18 and 7.1%, respectively. More than 15% of the students reported sleep disturbance and poor sleep quality. After adjusting for confounders, reduced (<7 h/day) total sleep duration (OR=1.73, 95% CI=1.21-2.47), weekend sleep duration (OR=1.46, 95% CI=1.00-2.12), and night sleep duration (OR=1.55, 95% CI=1.06-2.28) were found to be significantly associated with overweight or obesity in Bangladeshi adolescents. Similarly, significant positive associations were evident between short duration of total sleep (OR=0.33, 95% CI=0.20-0.54), weekday sleep (OR=0.55, 95% CI=0.35-0.84), weekend sleep (OR=0.53, 95% CI=0.31-0.89), and night sleep (OR=0.56, 95% CI=0.36-0.87), and underweight in study participants. Adolescents with short sleep duration were found less likely to be underweight and more likely to be overweight/obese.

Conclusions

Study findings denoted short sleep duration to be associated with overweight/obesity and underweight among adolescents of Bangladesh. Adequate sleep may therefore serve as an effective obesity prevention strategy in the growing stages.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-022-12774-0.