Association between the school environment and children’s body mass index in Terengganu: A cross sectional study

Abstract

With the ongoing interest in implementing school policies to address the problem of childhood obesity in Malaysia, there is urgent need for information about the association between school environment and children's weight status. This study aims to investigate the association between school environmental factors (physical, economic, political and sociocultural) with BMI of school children in Terengganu. The school environment factors were assessed using a set of validated whole-school environmental mapping questionnaires, consisting of 76 criteria with four domains; physical environment (41 criteria), economic environment (nine criteria), political environment (nine criteria) and sociocultural environment (17 criteria). This involved face-to-face interview sessions with 32 teachers from 16 schools (eight rural and eight urban). In addition, 400 school children aged between 9 and 11 years of the selected schools were assessed for BMI (WHO 2007 reference chart), dietary intake (food frequency questionnaire (FFQ)) and physical activity level (physical activity questionnaire for children (PAQ-C)). Multiple regression was used to examine the association between school environment factors and BMI of the school children. Seven school environment criteria were found to be associated with BMI of school children when it was adjusted for calorie intake and physical activity level. About 33.4% of the variation in BMI of school children was explained by health professional involvement, simple exercise before class, encouragement to walk/ride bicycle to/from school, no high-calorie food sold, healthy options of foods and drinks at tuck shop, availability of policy on physical activity and training teacher as a role model. Policy makers should make urgent actions to address the obesogenic features of school environments. It should strive towards setting up healthy school environment and improving school curricula to promote healthy behaviours among the school children.

Balanced Nutrition and Nutrition Status of Schoolchildren in Rural Areas of Ogan Komering Ilir District South Sumatra Indonesia

“…32 The results of this study also showed that there was a relationship between physical activity and BMI; this is in line with the previous study showing the same results. 34 A less diverse diet consisting of plant-based food sources but low in fruit and vegetable sources is one of the major nutritional problems in the diets of developing countries. 35 The results of this study showed that there was no relationship between dietary diversity and nutritional status; this is not in line with the previous studies stating that better dietary diversity is related to the nutritional status.…”

Hábitos alimentarios, obesidad y calidad de vida relacionada con la salud en adolescentes chilenos

“…En comparación con las cifras nacionales 10 , el porcentaje que cumple con las recomendaciones de consumo de comida rápida y de frutas fue mayor, mientras que la prevalencia de obesidad fue ligeramente menor. Si bien son múltiples los factores de riesgo asociados al aumento en la prevalencia de obesidad 6 , estas diferencias pueden ser atribuidas a entornos escolares que promueven y facilitan elecciones saludables, y que involucran la escuela, la familia y la comunidad 4 Nuestros resultados evidenciaron que los adolescentes con obesidad y con hábitos alimentarios inadecuados tienen una CVRS significativamente menor que sus pares no obesos y con hábitos alimentarios saludables. Se observó que los adolescentes con obesidad y con consumo inadecuado de frutas reportaron una peor percepción de la dimensión bienestar físico.…”

“…fabiola.vilugron@upla.cl L os hábitos alimentarios han sido definidos como "los patrones conductuales regulares que son observados en algunas especies de interés, y que consta de formas en las cuales sus miembros se procuran el sustento nutritivo, especialmente el tipo de alimento que se ingiere y cómo se ingiere" 1 . La adolescencia se considera una etapa nutricionalmente vulnerable debido a que los hábitos alimentarios están fuertemente influenciados por factores socioculturales, emocionales y conductuales, que ocurren en el contexto y que pueden provocar o reforzar el consumo excesivo de alimentos no nutritivos [2][3][4] . La causa principal de la obesidad es el desequilibrio entre la ingesta alimentaria y la actividad física.…”

Health Promoting Schools in Germany. Mapping the Implementation of Holistic Strategies to Tackle NCDs and Promote Health

“…This is especially important as most findings presented above follow a social gradient with positive associations between health behaviour, health literacy and family affluence [ 6 , 7 , 8 ]. Third, schools are not merely access points to children and young people, but also have an influence on health and health behaviour through their structures, conditions and processes (e.g., physical activity friendly school yards, food service environment [ 9 , 10 ]). Fourth, research findings from recent years suggest that determinants of NCDs such as physical inactivity [ 11 ] or overweight [ 12 ], but also mental health problems [ 13 ], can have adverse effects on school performance (e.g., grades, test scores) and thus can compromise the core mission of schools.…”