Habitual physical activity and body composition of black township adolescents residing in the North West Province, South Africa

Abstract

Objective: It is known that stunting and obesity affect a large proportion of children in the world, and these can be affected by the physical activity levels of the children. In the present study, we evaluated the association between physical activity, physical development and body composition in black adolescent children. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Black township schools in the North West Province, South Africa. Methods: Three-hundred and thirteen grade 8 children were included in the Physical Activity in Youth study. Anthropometric measurements, body composition measures and maturity level as assessed by Tanner stages were determined in these children. In addition, Previous Day Physical Activity Recall questionnaires were administered on the children to record the various activities they undertake daily. Results: The demographic characteristics of the children showed a high level of homogeneity. A high prevalence of stunting (16.3%) was observed in the children, which was higher in boys than in girls (21.6 vs. 12.3%). Also prevalent was overweight/obesity (8.6%), but this was higher in girls than in boys (13.4 vs. 1.6%). The children also showed a reduction in levels of physical activity with advancement in maturity; furthermore, boys showed a more central form of fat deposition whilst girls showed more gynoid deposition. Conclusions: The study revealed that physical activity plays a role in determining body composition, and further indicated that physical activity is associated with favourable body composition measures. Children who were more active were likely to have less fat deposits.

Is Overweight in Stunted Preschool Children in Cameroon Related to Reductions in Fat Oxidation, Resting Energy Expenditure and Physical Activity?

“…In line with previous findings [18], [43], stunted children (whether or not overweight) were found to be less active than their non-stunted (whether or not overweight) counterparts. This reduced level of physical activity may expose stunted children to a higher risk of in a context of nutrition transition [44].…”

The prevalence of underweight, overweight, obesity and associated risk factors among school-going adolescents in seven African countries

“…In one of these studies, “obesity prevalence varied from 1.1% (Dutch and Danish girls) to 10.7% (Portuguese boys) and from 0.3% (Dutch girls) to 6.2% (Portuguese boys) respectively” [61]. Reasons for the different patterns in LMICs and High Income countries could include cultural beliefs about body image [62], and higher levels of physical activity including harder chores and manual labour among adolescent boys in LMICs than girls [62, 63]. Given such prevalence of unhealthy weights but no significant associations with potential risk factors, our findings seem to suggest that other factors not captured by the questions in the survey may be related to the weight status of these adolescents.…”

Objectively determined habitual physical activity in South African adolescents: the PAHL study

“…One of the most compelling findings of our study is its consistency with the international phenomenon of low PA in adolescents [22,23]. Up until now, most of the studies on habitual PA in South Africa were done using questionnaires [4,24]. However, pedometers [14] and accelerometry [15] have been used to assess PA in rural black female South Africans as well as 8–12 year old South African children from disadvantaged schools [25].…”

“…With reference to South African adolescents from the Tlokwe Municipality of the North West Province, it is possible that walking to school (Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis–NEAT transport domain) [29] or school related physical education/scheduled sport is the reason behind higher weekday MVPA. Conversely, in 2008, Mamabolo and colleagues revealed that ±14½ year old township adolescents residing in the North West Province of South Africa were more active on weekends than on weekdays [24]. This disparity is likely due to the fact that Mamabolo and colleagues used questionnaires and not objective means to asses PA.…”