Overweight and obesity rates have
increased steadily among adolescents in HCM City, and require swift intervention
to change dietary intake, physical activities, sedentary behaviour, and
lifestyle habits, a study has found.

The five-year study,
done by the HCM City Medical Association and its member associations, found the
overweight rate increasing from 12.5 per cent in 2004 to 18.3 per cent in 2009.

The obesity rate was
up nearly four-fold from 1.7 per cent to 6.2 per cent.

The research, the
first of its kind in the city, studied anthropometry, environmental, parental,
and child factors and child dietary behaviour in 585 junior high school
students, Dr Tang Kim Hong of Pham Ngoc Thach Medical University, a member of
the research team, said.

Students were asked
to wear accelerometers for seven successive days and answer questionnaires to
calculate the average daily time for sedentary, moderate and vigorous
activities, she said.

The increase in
number of overweight and obese children was more among males than females.

The daily time spent
on moderate and vigorous physical activities declined from 81 minutes a day to
60 minutes.

Conversely, the time
spent on sedentary activities jumped to 210 minutes a day from 120 minutes.

Time spent on
physical activity and the body mass index (BMI) – based on height and weight and
the most useful measure of overweight and obesity – had a negative association.

Sedentary activities
like playing video games, watching television and studying after class were
positively associated with BMI.

Having breakfast
daily can reduce the risk of becoming overweight or obese.

Overweight and
obesity increase the risk of many health problems, including heart disease,
diabetes, hypertension, and fatty liver, according to Dr Duong Quang Trung, head
of the HCM City Medical Association, said.

The study emphasised
that raising public awareness was an essential measure to help people prevent
overweight and obesity by altering factors like diet, physical activities, and
habits.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News