Background Economic hardship is one of the factors that contributes to the double burden of weightrelated health. Sudan is one of the countries that suffer from obesity and malnutrition problems. For a further understanding of the impact of economic hardship in Sudan, this study aimed to explore the perceptions of key stakeholders regarding its impact on dietary and physical activity behaviors of Sudanese adolescents.Methods A qualitative study was conducted using semi-structured interviews during the period January-March 2019, a period of political and economic instability in Sudan. The interviews were conducted with 17 participants, including officials from the Ministries of Health and Education, school directors and parents. The interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, translated to English, and then coded and analyzed manually.
ResultsThe participants confirmed an impact of economic hardship on the dietary and physical activity behaviors of adolescents in Khartoum state. The impact appeared to sort into three domains: community, school and home settings. Factors that were identified as contributing to the double burden of weight-related health and nutritional disorders in times of economic hardship include: migration from rural areas to big cities, increased accessibility of junk food, a decline in Physical Education classes in schools, discontinued funding of school meals and less interest of parents to establish a healthy food environment at home.
ConclusionOur findings indicate that financial hardship has an influence on nutrition and physical activity behaviors among adolescents, and its effect occurs in different settings (community, school and home), and appears to affect malnutrition, underweight and obesity among adolescents.
BackgroundThe economic context influences health at various levels [1]. It has an impact on the quality and quantity of nutrition, access to the health services, research and medical technology, pollution and mental health [2]. Many researchers have conducted studies to investigate this impact on health, such as the spread of communicable diseases, change in health policies, mortality rate, child health and obesity [3,4,5,6,7]. Economic context is one of the contributors to the increasing prevalence of