Michelle Jones
THE prevalence of children being overweight or obese and suffering from high blood pressure is on the rise.
Child, a North West University study now in its fourth year, has tracked children’s health as they progress through primary school. “The prevalence of obesity, which has a direct link with high blood pressure, is on the increase,” said principal investigator Anita Pienaar.
“In 2010, when the children were in Grade 1 and we did the first measurements, we found 12.51 percent were overweight or obese. The prevalence has since risen to 16.71 percent.
“When you consider that a 4.2 percent increase translates into 53 children who were not overweight or obese in Grade 1 but are now in Grade 4, it becomes clear that this is cause for concern.”
A total of 571 children from 20 schools in all four districts of the province were participating in the Child study, which looked at health status, physical development and motor development.
“Among children from the most affluent groups, as many as 27 percent were overweight or obese when we tested them in Grade 4 in 2013,” said Pienaar. This was in comparison to an obesity rate of only 13 percent among the poorest children.
But even in the most deprived areas, double the number of children had became obese. “It will be interesting to see what the figures look like when we do the next tests in 2016 when the children are in Grade 7.”
Pienaar told the Cape Times these statistics could not necessarily be translated to a Western Cape context as no coloured children – the largest demographic group in the province – had been tested.
Results of the most recent South African National Health And Nutrition Examination Survey found the heaviest boys and girls were in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
The lightest girls were in Free State and the lightest boys in North West.
Earlier this month, Discovery Vitality released its Healthy Active Kids Report Card 2014. It found less than half of all pupils were active enough; poverty remained a barrier to healthy eating while the consumption of fast food and soft drinks had increased alarmingly.