Article Sidebar
Published:
Jun 10, 2026Keywords:
Article Details
The author(s) retain copyright on work published by AOSIS unless specified otherwise.
Licensing and publication rights
Author(s) of work published by AOSIS are required to grant AOSIS the unlimited rights to publish the definitive work in any format, language and medium, for any lawful purpose. AOSIS requires journal authors to publish their work in open access under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.
The authors retain the non-exclusive right to do anything they wish with the published article(s), provided attribution is given to the applicable journal with details of the original publication, as set out in the official citation of the article published in the journal. The retained right specifically includes the right to post the article on the authors’ or their institution’s websites or in institutional repositories.
Previously published work may have been published under a different licence. We advise the community that if they would like to reuse the work to consult the applicable licence at article level.
Note: If you need to comply with your funding body policy, you can apply for the CC BY license after your manuscript is accepted for publication.
Main Article Content
Prevalence of overweight, obesity and central adiposity among grade seven adolescents in urban Tshwane, South Africa
Nonie M. Mokose
Jan W. Swanepoel
Wilna Oldewage-Theron
Abstract
Background: The global increase in overweight and obesity among adolescents is a significant public health priority, especially in low- and middle-income countries. In South Africa, urbanisation and lifestyle changes have exacerbated this challenge, but there is a lack of disaggregated data available to inform effective local responses.
Aim: To assess and describe the prevalence of overweight, obesity and central adiposity in Grade seven adolescents in urban Tshwane, South Africa, and explore its association with socioeconomic characteristics.
Setting: The study was conducted in five diverse fee-paying public primary schools in urban Tshwane, Gauteng province.
Methods: A quantitative, descriptive cross-sectional design recruited 164 adolescents aged 11–14 years. Anthropometric measures were performed according to World Health Organization (WHO) standards. These included a survey of height and weight to derive body mass index (BMI-for-age) z-scores, as well as waist circumference to height ratio (WHtR). Socioeconomic status was assessed using the validated Family Affluence Scale. Data analysis included descriptive statistics and chi-square tests to determine the association between categorical variables.
Results: The combined prevalence of overweight and obesity was 23.7%, with a greater burden among girls (36.4% of 12 year olds) compared to boys (16.7%). The risk of central adiposity (WHtR ≥ 0.5) was found in 25% of participants, with 7.3% at very high risk. Household income was significantly associated with obesity (p = 0.043), while parental education was not statistically significant.
Conclusion: The high prevalence of excess adiposity, particularly among female adolescents, indicates an emerging cardiometabolic risk profile among the group.
Contribution: This study addresses a critical gap in South African public health literature by providing locally specific, disaggregated data on the nutritional status of urban adolescents in Tshwane, a cohort that is underrepresented in contrast to conventional rural or national surveys.
