Body composition of Kinh, Tay, H’mong, Dao ethnic students 11-14 years old in the ethnic minority boarding schools in Yen Bai province, in 2017

Abstract

Background: Research on the characteristics of body composition of individuals by ethnicity is still limited  in Vietnam.

Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted with the participation of 3,438 students 11 to14 years of age of Kinh, Tay, H 'mong, Dao ethnic minority people at 14 ethnic minority boarding schools in Yen Bai province in 2017 to describe the body composition by TANITA body composition analyzer SC 330.

Results:

Results showed that the percentage of body fat index (% BF) of Kinh ethnicity for male students was 13.6% and that of females was 21.9%, which were relatively higher than the Tay and Dao ethinicity, with 10.9% and 10.1% for males and 20.2% and 20.1% for females, respectively (p<0.05). Besides, the remaining indicators including fat mass index (FM), predicted muscle mass index (PMM) and fat-free mass index (FFM) of Kinh ethinic groups were also higher than those from Tay, Dao and H’Mong ethinic groups (p <0.05). The FM index of Kinh male students remained stable in the groupaged 11 to 14, but in term of Tay, H’mong and Dao ethnic group, an increasing trend from students aged 11 to 14 in both genders were witnessed.

Conclusion: The body composition of secondary school students varied by ethnicity, age, and gender