Nutritional status and associated factors among adolescents in Senegal: a nationwide cross-sectional study

Adolescents are a vulnerable group as they undergo rapid physical changes that can impact their nutritional status. Despite the implementation of some interventions addressing adolescent nutrition in Senegal, there remains a lack of comprehensive data on their nutritional status. This study aimed to assess nutritional status and associated factors among Senegalese adolescents aged 10-19 years.

This cross-sectional study was part of the national food consumption survey, which was conducted among children aged 24-59 months, adolescents aged 10-19 years and adults aged 20 years and older.

The study was conducted in Senegal at the national level, in rural and urban areas, from July to November 2021.

1433 adolescents, boys and girls aged 10-19 years were randomly selected from 1800 households in 150 census districts.

Nutritional status was assessed using body mass index for age z-score and waist-to-height ratio through anthropometric measurements. Dietary practices, health and socioeconomic and sociodemographic data were collected using questionnaires. Data were weighted for representativeness and logistic regression models were used to identify factors associated with underweight, overweight and obesity.

Among the 1433 adolescents, one in five (21.7%) were underweight, 5.9% were overweight, 1.8% had obesity and 5% had abdominal obesity. Male gender (OR=1.74; p<0.001), being in the 10-14 years age group (OR=1.44; p<0.05), having diarrhoea (OR=4.86; p<0.05), skipping lunch daily (OR=2.28; p<0.01) and snacking (OR=1.51; p<0.05) were associated with increased risk of being underweight. Female gender was a predictor of being overweight (OR=4.68; p<0.001) and having abdominal obesity (OR=5.28; p<0.001). Urban adolescents were 59% more likely to be obese than rural adolescents (p<0.05). Adolescents who consumed dietary supplements had greater odds of obesity (OR=3.89; p<0.05) and those who skipped breakfast daily were 4.5 times more at risk of having abdominal obesity. More than 90% of adolescents had three main meals per day. Over 60.3% of adolescents reported snacking and 55.4% of them did so at least once per day. 72% of Senegalese adolescents met the minimum dietary diversity and the mean Dietary Diversity Score was 5.23±1.28.

Underweight is high in Senegalese adolescents, particularly in rural areas and among boys and adolescents aged 10-14 years. Overweight and abdominal obesity among girls and urban adolescents require particular attention. Tackling the double burden of malnutrition in Senegalese adolescents requires a greater consideration of adolescents in policies and strategies, including the implementation of a malnutrition management programme as well as the promotion of healthy diets.