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Diet, physical activity and obesity in school aged Indigenous youths in Northern Australia

Valery, Patricia C., Ibiebele, Torukiri, Harris, Mark, Green, Adele C., Cotterill, Andrew, Moloney, Aletia, Sinha, Ashim K. and Garvey, Gail (2012). Diet, physical activity and obesity in school aged Indigenous youths in Northern Australia. Journal of Obesity,12(4):1-12.

Document type: Journal Article
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Title Diet, physical activity and obesity in school aged Indigenous youths in Northern Australia
Author Valery, Patricia C.
Ibiebele, Torukiri
Harris, Mark
Green, Adele C.
Cotterill, Andrew
Moloney, Aletia
Sinha, Ashim K.
Garvey, Gail
Journal Name Journal of Obesity
Publication Date 2012
Volume Number 12
Issue Number 4
ISSN 2090-0716   (check CDU catalogue open catalogue search in new window)
Start Page 1
End Page 12
Total Pages 12
Place of Publication United States
Publisher Hindawi Publishing Corporation
HERDC Category C1 - Journal Article (DIISR)
Abstract Purpose: To examine the relationship between diet, physical activity, and obesity in Indigenous youths from northern Australia.

Methods: In a cross-sectional study, physical activity and dietary intake (“short nutrition questionnaire”) were assessed among all youths during a face-to-face interview. For 92 high school youths, additional dietary information was assessed using a food-frequency questionnaire. Height and weight were measured and BMI was calculated. Multiple logistic regression was used to assess associations.

Results: Of the 277 youths included, 52% had ≤2 servings of fruit and 84% had <4 servings of vegetables per day; 65% ate fish and 27%, take-away food (“fast food”) at least twice a week. One in four ate local traditional sea food including turtle and dugong (a local sea mammal) at least twice a week. Overweight/obese youths engaged in fewer days of physical activity in the previous week than normal weight youths (OR = 2.52, 95% CI 1.43–4.40), though patterns of physical activity differed by sex and age (P < 0.001). Overweight/obese youths were 1.89 times (95% CI 1.07–3.35) more likely to eat dugong regularly than nonobese youths. Analysis of food-frequency data showed no difference by weight assessment among high-school students.

Conclusions: Low fruit and vegetable intake were identified in these Indigenous youths. Regular consumption of fried dugong and low frequency of physical activity were associated with overweight/obesity reinforcing the need to devise culturally appropriate health promotion strategies and interventions for Indigenous youths aimed at improving their diet and increasing their physical activity.
DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/893508   (check subscription with CDU E-Gateway service for CDU Staff and Students  check subscription with CDU E-Gateway in new window)
Additional Notes Copyright © 2012 Patricia C. Valery et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.


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