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The prevalence of obesity amongst learners attending the schools in Belhar, Delft and Mfuleni in Cape Town, South Africa

Thesis (MTech (Biomedical Technology))--Peninsula Technikon, Cape Town, 2004 / Introduction and Background:
The prevalence of obesity amongst both the adult and paediatric population has
assumed almost epidemic proportions in many developed and developing
countries. A recent study by the Medical Research Council found that a disturbing
20% of all South African children could be categorized as being obese. Limited
data is currently available on the prevalence of obesity in South African children,
particularly from the previously disadvantaged population. Given the global
epidemic of paediatric obesity, hypertension and type-2-diabetes and the limited
available data relating to obese South African children, further studies to enhance
the understanding of the risk factors associated with the epidemic are imperative.
Aims and Objectives of the Study: The objectives of the study were to:
1. Determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity amongst leamers
attending schools in the communities of Belhar, Delft and Mfuleni within the
City of Cape Town, South Africa.
2. Determine the prevalence of diabetes and hypertension amongst learners
attending school in the communities of Belhar, Delft and Mfuleni in the City
of Cape Town.
3. To investigate the association of overweight and obesity with diabetes and
hypertension in children and adolescents, and
• To determine the risk factors associated with overweight, obesity, diabetes
and hypertension
Sample Population: Excluding learners that did not meet the inclusion criteria,
the final sample consisted of 338 learners aged 10 - 16 years attending the
government funded primary and secondary schools and residing in the target
communities.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:cput/oai:localhost:20.500.11838/1462
Date January 2004
CreatorsSomers, Avril
PublisherPeninsula Technikon
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis
Rightshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/za/

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