Sociodemographic, Dietary, and Lifestyle Factors Associated with Overweight and Obesity in School Children in Indonesia and Jamaica: A Comparative Study

Background: Childhood obesity is on the increase in many developing countries and constitutes a major public health problem. Aim and Objectives: This study sought to investigate the prevalence and factors associated with overweight and obesity in school children in Indonesia and Jamaica. Materials and Methods: We conducted the descriptive and inferential analyses of two large datasets obtained from the Global School-based Health Survey 2015 in Indonesia and 2017 in Jamaica. Multinomial logistic regression modeling was used to assess factors associated with overweight and obesity. Results: The prevalence of overweight and obesity was higher in Jamaican students (13.5% and 10.4%, respectively) than in Indonesian students (11% and 5.2%, respectively). There were also disparities in the strength and direction of the associations between the explanatory variables and overweight and obesity in the two countries. Age, gender, consumption of fruits, tobacco smoking, physical activity, and alcohol consumption were significantly associated with overweight and obesity. Conclusion: The findings suggest that policy-makers and planners of programs for the prevention and control of childhood overweight and obesity should take age, gender, dietary factors, and lifestyles into consideration within the specific contexts of their country.