Determinants and Consequences of Childhood Overweight: Health Status and the Child’s School Achievement in Thailand

Abstract

Background: Thailand is now facing an epidemic of childhood overweight and its associated burdens. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between childhood weight statuses, health status and school achievement across determinants among primary school children.

Methods: The data from the 4^th Thai National Health Examination Survey (NHES IV) 2008-2009, that was collected from 4,821 children who lived in municipal and non-municipal areas, age between 6 and 12 years old, were analyzed to address the research objective. Ordinal and logistic regression models were employed to analyze the association between determinants and consequences of child weight status, health status and school achievement.

Results: The ordinal regression analysis found that the factors of  being a girl, having more siblings, exercising less than three times per week, spending more time viewing TV, having a higher-educated father, or having a father who worked as a business owner, in government or agriculture had the highest probability of being associated with overweight/obese among school-age children. In addition, underweight children, living in a non-municipal area, the third-order birth, ate less than 3 meals per day, exercised less than 3 days per week, and with difficult access to a fitness center had the highest probability of low educational achievement. The logistic regression analysis found that children who sleep less than 10 hours per day, exercised less than three times per week, obese or with difficult access to a fitness center had the highest probability of being asthmatic, while a girl, younger, exercised less than three times per week, spending more time on the computer for games and learning, obese/overweight, living adjacent to facility for computer game or living farther away from a food shop/outlet  had the highest probability of being hypertensive.

Conclusion: The burden of overweight/obesity tends to relate to adverse health consequences. This finding demonstrates the importance of this issue for policymakers who should consider the different child, parental and environmental characteristics in weight control/reduction programs for youth. Health promotion policy should include behavioral change and health education interventions.