Nearly 42% of urban children are overweight or obese.
This is the result of a study conducted on more than 5,000 students in 6 localities, including Nghe An.
The results of the study on Nutritional status, diet, frequency and food consumption habits of primary, secondary and high school students in several provinces and cities in Vietnam were announced by the National Institute of Nutrition on July 5. The study was conducted over 12 months on 5,028 students aged 7-17 in 75 schools in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Thai Nguyen, Nghe An and Soc Trang.
According to research, primary school students have a diet rich in energy and protein much higher than the recommended threshold. Meanwhile, secondary school students' diets do not meet the recommendations for energy, iron, zinc, calcium and vitamins, so many children are stunted.
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Meanwhile, the level of participation in physical activities of children is low, leading to a high rate of overweight and obesity in primary school students, especially in urban areas. The time spent sitting in front of screens, including computer screens, televisions, phones... increases gradually with the grade level and is longer on holidays than on weekdays.
The study also pointed out other factors related to overweight and obesity in children including age, gender, living area, socio-economic conditions and educational level of parents...
The results also showed that the rate of overweight and obesity decreased gradually with school age and there was a large difference between urban and rural areas. In contrast, the rate of wasting and stunting increased gradually with school age and was higher in rural areas than in urban areas.
Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Thuy Nga, expert of the National Institute of Nutrition, head of the research project, recommends orienting intervention programs to prevent and combat malnutrition for children in rural areas and combat overweight and obesity in urban children, providing health care and balanced, reasonable nutrition.
