Research Article
Prevalence and Predictors of Obesity among 7- to 17-Year-Old Schoolchildren in Urban Arusha, Tanzania
Table 4
Participants’ dietary habits and their weight status.
| Food items | Under | Norm | Over | Obese | Overall | n | % | n | % | n | % | n | % | n | % |
| Snacks | | | | | | | | | | | Ate highly processed snacks | 15 | 17.9 | 55 | 65.5 | 2 | 2.4 | 12 | 14.2 | 84 | 100 | Ate less processed snack | 29 | 21.3 | 78 | 57.4 | 7 | 5.1 | 22 | 16.2 | 136 | 100 | Did not eat snack | 9 | 19.2 | 33 | 70.2 | 1 | 2.1 | 4 | 8.5 | 47 | 100 | Ate less or highly processed snacks | 2 | 5.7 | 27 | 77.1 | 2 | 5.7 | 4 | 11.5 | 35 | 100 | Ate sugar-coated snacks | 4 | 11.8 | 21 | 61.7 | 5 | 14.7 | 4 | 11.8 | 34 | 100 |
| Meal frequency | | | | | | | | | | | Skipped breakfast | 12 | 20.7 | 36 | 62.1 | 4 | 6.9 | 6 | 10.3 | 58 | 100 | Skipped lunch | 7 | 19.4 | 23 | 63.9 | 3 | 8.3 | 3 | 8.3 | 36 | 100 | Did not skip meal | 40 | 18.1 | 134 | 60.6 | 10 | 4.5 | 37 | 16.7 | 221 | 100 |
| Eating places | | | | | | | | | | | Ate at home | 32 | 18.8 | 99 | 58.2 | 9 | 5.3 | 30 | 17.6 | 170 | 100 | Ate at home or away from home | 27 | 16.4 | 114 | 69.1 | 8 | 4.8 | 16 | 9.7 | 165 | 100 |
| Eating lunch at home | | | | | | | | | | | Ate lunch meal every day at home | 36 | 18.9 | 120 | 63.2 | 9 | 4.7 | 25 | 13.2 | 190 | 100 | Ate lunch often away from home | 23 | 15.7 | 94 | 64.4 | 8 | 5.5 | 21 | 14.4 | 146 | 100 |
| School dietary preference | | | | | | | | | | | Ate fried foods | 27 | 21.8 | 81 | 65.3 | 3 | 2.4 | 13 | 10.5 | 124 | 100 | Ate refined boiled maize | 17 | 14.9 | 80 | 70.2 | 6 | 5.3 | 11 | 9.6 | 114 | 100 | Ate nothing | 1 | 20 | 3 | 60 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 5 | 100 | Ate any food | 11 | 13.6 | 44 | 54.3 | 8 | 9.9 | 18 | 22.2 | 81 | 100 | Ate food containing more sugars | 3 | 25 | 6 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 25 | 12 | 100 |
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