Dietary patterns and child, parental, and societal factors associated with being overweight and obesity in Vietnamese children living in Ho Chi Minh city

Abstract

Childhood overweight and obesity are rapidly increasing in urban Vietnam. Dietary patterns are understudied for their association with obesity risk in these children, and it is unclear which parental and societal factors should be targeted in prevention efforts. The study assessed child characteristics, dietary patterns, parental and societal factors for associations with childhood overweight and obesity status in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. A sample of 221 children aged 9–11 years was randomly selected from four Ho Chi Minh City primary schools. Weight, height and waist circumference were measured using standardized methods. Three 24‐h dietary recalls were collected from 124 children, which were used to assess dietary patterns using principal component analysis (PCA). Parents completed a questionnaire about child, parental and societal factors. The overall prevalence of obesity was 31.7% and of combined overweight and obesity 59.3%. Three main dietary patterns from 10 food groups were identified by PCA: traditional (grains, vegetables, meat and meat alternatives), discretionary (snacks and sweetened beverages), and industrialized (fast food and processed meat). Children with higher discretionary diet scores had higher odds of being overweight. Being a boy, screen time over 2 h/day, parental underestimation of child weight status, father's obesity, and household income in the lowest quintile were positively associated with childhood obesity. Future intervention programmes in Vietnam need to consider targeting children's unhealthy diets and parental perceptions of child weight status, as well as focusing on upstream approaches that reduce inequities contributing to childhood obesity and concomitant dietary patterns.

Association between cardiovascular risk and maternal perception of BMI in Peruvian schoolchildren

“…Although most studies on maternal perception have focused on BMI/Age as the primary indicator, other markers are crucial. A recent study supports this, noting that parental underestimation of children’s weight status directly correlates with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease ( 40 ). Abdominal circumference emerges as a critical anthropometric indicator.…”

Nutrition in a lifecourse perspective: From molecular aspects to public health approaches

“…Since its establishment in 2018, the Priority Research Centre for Lifecourse Nutrition at the University of Agder has been committed to understand and improve diet and health relations from a lifecourse perspective. Devoting this Special Issue to current advancements in the subdiscipline of lifecourse nutrition in our Centre (Bjørkkjaer et al, 2023;Helle et al, 2023;Ostojic et al, 2023;Valen et al, 2023) but also across the global research arena (Flor-Alemany et al, 2023;Mai et al, 2023;Shinsugi & Takimoto, 2023;Thorisdottir et al, 2023) could potentially pave the path towards enhancing health outcomes for both present and future generations. This Special Issue covers a variety of topics related to nutrition from a lifecourse perspective, addressing diet in sensitive periods (preconception, pregnancy and infancy/toddlerhood), and spanning from molecular nutrition to food environments and settings and gatekeepers of diet in these sensitive periods.…”

“…Since its establishment in 2018, the Priority Research Centre for Lifecourse Nutrition at the University of Agder has been committed to understand and improve diet and health relations from a lifecourse perspective. Devoting this Special Issue to current advancements in the subdiscipline of lifecourse nutrition in our Centre (Bjørkkjaer et al, 2023 ; Helle et al, 2023 ; Ostojic et al, 2023 ; Valen et al, 2023 ) but also across the global research arena (Flor‐Alemany et al, 2023 ; Mai et al, 2023 ; Shinsugi & Takimoto, 2023 ; Thorisdottir et al, 2023 ) could potentially pave the path towards enhancing health outcomes for both present and future generations.…”

“…Focusing on older age groups (9−11 years), Mai et al ( 2023 ) explored dietary patterns and child, parental and societal factors associated with overweight and obesity in Vietnamese children. Nearly 60% of the 9 to 11‐year‐olds had overweight or obesity in the researched city, highlighting the importance of understanding factors associated with this phenomenon.…”

“…As commented in the Global Nutrition Report ( 2020 ), there is also a call for nutrition equity sensitive policies. Inequalities and inequities in nutrition are discussed in several papers in this supplement (Mai et al, 2023 ; Shinsugi & Takimoto, 2023 ).…”