Modupi Peter Mphekgwana
University of Limpopo, South Africa
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Steroid Horm Sci
Obesity and overweight are global public health problems, with global obesity rates that have tripled in the last four decades and continue to rise. Obesity and overweight are significant risk factors for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), which result in increased mortality. Previous studies showed that childhood obesity prevalence varies by income and education of the household head. Various studies have been conducted on obesity using cross-sectional and longitudinal study surveys in South Africa, but none of these has assessed the obesity prevalence among youths per household and its relationship with the education and obesity status of the head of household in rural settings of South Africa. This paper aims to assess the prevalence of obesity among rural youths by education level, employment, and obesity status of the head of household. This study adopted a quantitative cross-sectional population study that was conducted within a bigger ongoing project of the Dikgale, Mamabolo and Mothiba (DIMAMO) Health and Demographic Surveillance Site (HDSS) consisting of 51 villages, with 13 328 households and a total population of approximately 100 000. Finally, this will provide guidelines for planning and interventions development in addressing this critical obesity at the Households level.
Mr. Mphekgwana is employed as a Biostatistician in the Research Office, where he provides statistical advice to all academic and administrative personnel at the University of Limpopo, as well as master's and doctorate students. His research focuses on gaining insight into health issues via the use of statistical techniques and various data sources. He has published multiple peer-reviewed articles on DHET-accredited platforms in both local and international journals. Since 2016, Peter has been a member of both the South African Statistical Association (SASA) and the Southern Africa Mathematical Sciences Association (SAMSA).
