Prevalence and associated factors of overweight and obesity among primary school children: a cross-sectional study in Thanhhoa City, Vietnam

ObjectiveTo determine the prevalence and associated factors of overweight and obesity among primary school children (6–11 years old) in Thanhhoa city in 2021.DesignCross-sectional study.SettingSeven primary schools in Thanhhoa city, Vietnam.Participants782 children (and their parents).Primary and secondary outcome measuresTwo-stage cluster random sampling was used for selecting children and data were collected from January to February 2021. A self-administrated questionnaire was designed for children and their parents. Children’s height and weight were measured and body mass index (BMI)-for-age z-scores were computed using the WHO Anthro software V.1.0.4. Data were analysed using R software V.4.1.2. The associations between potential factors and childhood overweight/obesity were analysed through univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. Variables were selected using the Bayesian Model Averaging method.ResultsThe prevalence of overweight/obesity among primary school children in Thanhhoa city was 35.93% (overweight 21.61% and obesity 14.32%). The proportion of overweight girls was nearly equal to that of boys (20.78% and 22.52%, respectively, p=0.6152) while the proportion of boys with obesity was four times as many as that of girls (23.86% and 5.62%, respectively, p