Prevalence and Risk Factors of Overweight and Obesity among Children Aged 6–59 Months in Cameroon: A Multistage, Stratified Cluster Sampling Nationwide Survey

Abstract

BackgroundChildhood obesity is one of the most serious public health challenges of the 21st century. The prevalence of overweight and obesity among children (<5 years) in Cameroon, based on weight-for-height index, has doubled between 1991 and 2006. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and risk factors of overweight and obesity among children aged 6 months to 5 years in Cameroon in 2011.MethodsFour thousand five hundred and eighteen children (2205 boys and 2313 girls) aged between 6 to 59 months were sampled in the 2011 Demographic Health Survey (DHS) database. Body Mass Index (BMI) z-scores based on WHO 2006 reference population was chosen to estimate overweight (BMI z-score > 2) and obesity (BMI for age > 3). Regression analyses were performed to investigate risk factors of overweight/obesity.ResultsThe prevalence of overweight and obesity was 8% (1.7% for obesity alone). Boys were more affected by overweight than girls with a prevalence of 9.7% and 6.4% respectively. The highest prevalence of overweight was observed in the Grassfield area (including people living in West and North-West regions) (15.3%). Factors that were independently associated with overweight and obesity included: having overweight mother (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 1.51; 95% CI 1.15 to 1.97) and obese mother (aOR = 2.19; 95% CI = 155 to 3.07), compared to having normal weight mother; high birth weight (aOR = 1.69; 95% CI 1.24 to 2.28) compared to normal birth weight; male gender (aOR = 1.56; 95% CI 1.24 to 1.95); low birth rank (aOR = 1.35; 95% CI 1.06 to 1.72); being aged between 13–24 months (aOR = 1.81; 95% CI = 1.21 to 2.66) and 25–36 months (aOR = 2.79; 95% CI 1.93 to 4.13) compared to being aged 45 to 49 months; living in the grassfield area (aOR = 2.65; 95% CI = 1.87 to 3.79) compared to living in Forest area. Muslim appeared as a protective factor (aOR = 0.67; 95% CI 0.46 to 0.95).compared to Christian religion.ConclusionThis study underlines a high prevalence of early childhood overweight with significant disparities between ecological areas of Cameroon. Risk factors of overweight included high maternal BMI, high birth weight, male gender, low birth rank, aged between 13–36 months, and living in the Grassfield area while being Muslim appeared as a protective factor. Preventive strategies should be strengthened especially in Grassfield areas and should focus on sensitization campaigns to reduce overweight and obesity in mothers and on reinforcement of measures such as surveillance of weight gain during antenatal consultation and clinical follow-up of children with high birth weight. Meanwhile, further studies including nutritional characteristics are of great interest to understand the association with religion, child age and ecological area in this age group, and will help in refining preventive strategies against childhood overweight and obesity in Cameroon.

Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity Among Rural Preschool School Children Cameroon.

“…This prevalence was higher than the previous Cameroonian (8.0%) study [15] and others sub-Saharan African studies done in Ivory Coast (4.4% in 2012), in Nigeria (6.3% in 2013),in Senegal (6.8% in 2013), and Democratic Republic of Congo (5.6% in 2014) [18]. Many reason can justified this great prevalence, the small sample size, the definition used, the age of participants and the socio-economic status.…”

“…Developing countries are facing the double burden of under nutrition over nutrition and the extent of the problem remains unknown. Projections show that prevalence among children of less than 5 years) obesity will attend the magnitude of 12.7% in Africa by 2020 [14] In Cameroon, scarce childhood obesity data are available [15]. This study was carried out to estimate the prevalence of overweight and obesity among rural preschool children of 2 to 5years…”

A scoping review of epidemiologic risk factors for pediatric obesity: Implications for future childhood obesity and dental caries prevention research

“…Regarding pre‐partum maternal weight, three studies found relationships between BMI and childhood obesity, and seven studies reported associations between maternal obesity and childhood obesity. In terms of post‐partum maternal weight, childhood obesity was associated with maternal BMI and maternal obesity (43,44,48,56,77,80,87,104,107,113,123,144,147,148,156,159,167,169,183,184,185,193,198,201,202,32,194,206). There was also a linear relationship between gestational weight gain and childhood obesity , particularly when gestational weight gain was ≥15 kg .…”

“…Two studies reported conflicting findings regarding obesity risk and type of school (private versus public school). Other studies reported the following factors (potential proxies for socioeconomic status) as being associated with childhood obesity: fetal exposure to music , living in an Eastern compared to a Western European county , living in a grassfield area compared to a forest area in Cameroon , exposure to English television , and stunted growth .…”

The Combined Effect of Infant Birth Weight and Maternal Determinants of Health on the Development of Childhood Obesity: A Systematic Review

“…Smoking was self-reported by mothers and was defined as smoking during pregnancy. As an individual factor, two studies identified a statistically significant correlation between higher maternal educational attainment and obesity in preschool children [14,15]. The maternal influence of smoking was established as a contributor along with LGA to predict childhood obesity, however, the findings did not discuss the relationship of maternal influences of smoking and SGA as a predictor for childhood obesity.…”