Dutch youth health care promotes four so-called energy-balance
behaviours for the prevention of obesity: increasing physical activity, reducing
sedentary behaviour and sugar-containing drinks, and eating breakfast. However,
data on the prevalence of these behaviours and intentions to engage in
them among primary schoolchildren is limited, especially for multi-ethnic,
inner-city populations. In a paper by Jansen et al. in Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics explorative evidence on these energy-balance behaviours is presented for adolescents in the Rotterdam area, a city with approximately 50% adolescents from ethnic minorities. Jansen is senior researcher at the municipal health service in the Rotterdam area.
The prevalence of being overweight was 30.4%, including 9.0% obesity.
Engagement in energy-balance behaviours varied from 58.6% for outdoor play
(>1 h previous day) to 85.9% for active transportation to school.
The highest positive intentions were reported for taking part in sports
(83.9%), and lowest for reducing computer time (41.3%). Only very small differences in behaviours and intentions according to socio-demographic characteristics including ethnic background were found. The results confirm that the prevalence of being overweight among Dutch inner-city schoolchildren is high. The small differences between ethnic groups suggest that a general rather than a differentiated approach is needed to improve engagement in energy-balance behaviours among inner-city schoolchildren.