ASSESSMENT OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY ON OVERWEIGHT AMONG SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN THE ACCRA METROPOLIS

ABSTRACT

Adequate, frequent and appropriately intensity physical activity is an effective means for the primary and secondary prevention of many of today's leading health outcome like overweight, obesity, depression and other chronic diseases. Adolescent overweight is on the increase worldwide. It is estimated that the proportion of overweight school-age children will almost double by 2010. Ghana’s National Health Policy (2007), notes that non communicable diseases are increasing in Ghana and identify physical inactivity as one of the factors responsible for the increase. However little evidence on physical activity in adolescents is available in Ghana to support intervention activities. This study aims at examining the relationship between physical activity and overweight among senior high school students in the Accra metropolis. A school based cross sectional descriptive study was conducted in the Accra Metropolis, among selected senior high schools students. Participants were selected using cluster sampling. Structured questionnaire and anthropometric measurement were employed to gather information for this study. Body Mass Index (BMI) expressed as weight/height2 (BMI; kg/m2) was calculated to determine overweight and obese students by comparing respondent BMI against the international reference standard.

The WHO Growth reference standard for children and adolescents chart was used to determine overweight (BMI ≥ +1SD equivalent to 25kg/m²) and obese (BMI≥+2SD equivalent to 30kg/m²) of students. Data was entered into Epi Info version 3.4.1. Stata for Windows (Statcorp, College Station, USA) was used to conduct the statistical

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analysis. A random effect logistic regression model was used to estimate the odds ratio of overweight on moderate physical activity using low physical activity as the reference category.

Out of 444 students, 17% were classified as engaging in low level physical activity, 49% engage in moderate activity, and 34% engage in high level of physical activity. The prevalence of overweight is 11.7% among senior high students in the Accra metropolis (52/444). Overweight prevalence was higher among female students 15.6% compared to male student (4.5%). There was independent association between physical activity (p-value 0.01), sex (p-value 0.001) and age (p-value 0.01) and overweight. The study also found that the risk of overweight was lower among students who engaged in high physical activity compared with low active students. The study recommends that effective measures like recreational facilities provided for adolescents to engage in physical activity both at home and schools to reduce the risk of overweight.