Étude d’impact : analyse des données de fréquence alimentaire, d’activité physique et d’image corporelle chez des enfants d’âge scolaire au Burkina Faso
A study conducted in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, in 2009 and 2014 assessed the behavior of school-aged children. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of an intervention in schools on dietary habits, physical activity, and attitudes and perceptions towards body image. The nutritional intervention, called the “Nutrition-Friendly Schools Initiative” (NFSI) initiated by the World Health Organization in 2006 to prevent the double nutritional burden, was launched in six intervention schools in Ouagadougou. A baseline study in 2009 collected dietary and socio-demographic data from the six intervention schools as well as from six control schools that were comparable in terms of socioeconomic status (private/public) and geographic location (urban/peri-urban), prior to the initiation of the NFSI. Grade 5 students completed a questionnaire on the frequency of consumption of "healthy" foods (fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, legumes) and "superfluous" foods (cakes, biscuits, sweets, ice cream, soda), determinants of eating behavior,  body image perception, and physical activity. Similar data were collected in 2014, five years after the initiation of NFSI, among 709 schoolchildren (54,3% girls) in the same 12 schools. The average age of the schoolchildren was 11,6  1,3 years. The analyses revealed an effect of the intervention on the consumption of "healthy" foods but not of "superfluous" foods. In intervention schools, schoolchildren ate "healthy" foods more frequently than in control schools. Schoolchildren who participated in the NFSI showed greater satisfaction with their body image in 2014 than in 2009 (p = 0.030), compared with students in control schools (p = 0.974). Between 2009 and 2014, sports practice increased in both groups of schools, with a higher frequency of practice in intervention schools than in control schools. However, the practice of sport was already higher in intervention schools in 2009, before the establishment of the NFSI. In intervention schools, there was a decrease in the use of active transportation and a higher tendency to watch television and use the computer during the week compared to control schools. This study found improvements in diet, sport practice and satisfaction with body image in schoolchildren. However, the results also showed an increase in sedentary behavior among students. After five years of NFSI activity, it is difficult to establish causal links between the intervention and changes in students’ eating behavior and lifestyle. Thus, future longitudinal school-based studies would be required to assess the impact of the NFSI on student behavior.  Keywords: Food consumption, body image perception, physical activity, sedentary lifestyle, impact, intervention, school age children, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Africa.
Impact Intervention Ouagadougou Burkina Faso Food consumption Body image perception Physical activity Sedentary lifestyle School age children Africa