A recent study in Morocco highlights a growing divide in childhood nutrition, with urban areas seeing higher overweight and obesity rates driven by reduced physical activity and dietary changes, prompting calls for school-based interventions.
A Moroccan study of schoolchildren in the Draa-Tafilalet oasis region has found a clear split in nutritional patterns between urban and rural areas, with overweight and obesity more common in towns and lower physical activity closely linked to higher body-mass index. Published in Discover Public Health by Springer Nature, the research examined 3,684 children aged five to 15 across 39 public primary schools in south-eastern Morocco. The authors said the sample was designed to represent about 1% of the target population in the region.
The study found that 79.5% of children were in the normal weight range, according to World Health Organisation references. Another 10.8% were overweight and 1.9% were classified as obese. At the same time, 5.9% were underweight and 1.9% were severely underweight, underscoring that malnutrition in the region runs in both directions. Children in urban areas were almost twice as likely to be overweight as those in rural communities, while obesity was also higher in cities. The researchers reported no significant difference between boys and girls, and parents’ education and occupation were not among the factors that remained important after adjustment.
Lifestyle patterns appeared central to the results. The report said 71.1% of children achieved at least 60 minutes of daily physical activity, but lower activity levels were strongly associated with higher BMI. Children who spent more than three hours a day on screens were also more likely to fall into the overweight or obese categories. Once the researchers controlled for other factors, however, screen time itself was no longer statistically significant, while place of residence, exercise levels and fast-food consumption remained linked to weight status.
Dietary habits also stood out. About 30% of the children said they ate fast food, defined in the study as food not prepared at home, and only 30% ate breakfast every day. Roughly seven in 10 either skipped breakfast or did so at times, although breakfast frequency was not statistically tied to BMI. Sleep duration also did not show a meaningful association, even though about 38% of children slept fewer than 10 hours a night. The authors said the findings reflect broader lifestyle changes reaching Morocco’s oasis communities, where urban diets, digital habits and reduced movement are increasingly replacing traditional patterns.
The researchers called for school-based prevention measures, including nutrition education, support for physical activity and protection of local food traditions, arguing that excess weight in childhood can become a long-term risk factor for chronic disease. They also noted limits to the work: because it was a cross-sectional study, it could show associations but not prove cause and effect, and it did not include children who were not in school.
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