The Association between Paediatric Obesity, Anthropometric Parameters and Physiological Traits among Rural Schoolchildren in Alice Location, Eastern Cape, South Africa.

Background: Obesity is an epidemic non-communicable disease in South Africa (SA). Few data exist on rural schoolchildren. This study presented the association between paediatric obesity, anthropometric parameters and physiological traits in schoolchildren in the Alice Location of Raymond Mhlaba Municipality, South Africa.

Methods: The sum of 305 schoolchildren including girls 146; boys 159 between 5 - 7 years old were enrolled. Body mass index (BMI) specific for gender and age was used to describe overweight and obesity. Systolic/Diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP) was ≥ 90 percentile for gender and age. An aneroid sphygmomanometer was used to measure blood pressure (BP).

Results: 15.75% of girls were overweight compared to 10.69% of boys while 16.35% of boys were obese compared to 10.27% of girls. Pre-hypertension was detected in both girls (2.0%) and boys (0.3%). SBP and DBP were significantly (<0.05) associated with body mass, stature, BMI, hip and waist circumference (HC & WC), the sum of skinfolds, fat-mass (FM), fat-free mass (FFM), and fat-free mass index (FFMI).

Conclusion: Overweight, obesity and pre-hypertension are predominant amongst rural SA schoolchildren living in Alice location. Routine check-up and control of excessive weight gain in schoolchildren is crucial for early prevention of potential cardiovascular diseases in the future.