Sugar sweetened beverage intake, physical activity and nutritional status of school children above five in Kampala.

Abstract

Over the last few decades, sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) consumption has been steadily increasing among school going children and in the entire population. SSBs contain a lot of added sugar and provide empty calories. Overconsumption of SSBs and a lack of physical activity are risk factors for life style diseases. Despite the increase in non-communicable diseases (NCDs), there is increased production and consumption of SSBs among school going children. This makes them susceptible to develop NCDs leading to early onset of morbidity which is a serious concern to the population and need to be addressed. This cross sectional study investigated SSB consumption, nutritional status, physical activity level and correlates of SSB intake among primary school children age 9-13 year in Kampala city. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data and entered and analysed using SPSS for Windows, Version 28.0, 2021 and Microsoft office Excel 2010 were used for data entry and analysis. The association between variables were established via Chi-square. The study showed that overweight and obesity are on the rise and accounted for 26.4% of the participants. Based on BMI most (69.4%) of the children had a normal BMI, 4.2% were underweight while 17.2% were classified as obese and 9.2% as overweight. Results showed a significant association (P < 0.05) between 24 hour dietary diversity and nutritional status. Majority of the pupils (>50%) did not meet WHO recommended vigorous physical activity level of at least 75 minutes per week. Majority of the respondents (62.8%) had consumed soda with added sugar and locally sweetened beverages (93.8%) at least once in 24 hours before the study was conducted. Study found out that for the majority of the pupils, parents/guardians were responsible for buying the SSB consumed (55.2%) and deciding on the type of SSB to be carried to school (56.3%). The buyer of the pupil’s favourite SSB was significantly associated (p <0.05) with whether the pupil consumed SSBs in the 24 hours prior to the study or not. There were also significant associations (p <0.05) between consumption of SSBs and majority of the determinants for its intake. There were also significant associations (p<0.05) between SSB consumption and nutritional status, and physical activity with nutritional status. In conclusion, most pupils failed to achieve the levels of vigorous physical activity recommended. The pupils also consumed a lot of SSBs and the prevalence of overweight and obese was high. Efforts should be made to promote physical activity participation and good dietary practices within school and home environments.