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This pilot study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of peer-led education intervention on physical activity, sedentary behaviours, and dietary behaviours among adolescents in HCM city, Vietnam. Among students in the intervention arm after a 9-month follow-up, total energy intake was reduced by 304 kcal/day, fat by 13 g/day, carbohydrate by 39 g/day, and sweet foods by 20 g/day, compared to pre-intervention figures (p < 0.05, adjusted for age, BMI at baseline, gender, the interaction between measurement time and intervention groups, and cluster effect in schools). Only total energy intake was significantly lower in the intervention than control students (p < 0.05, after adjustment). Our pilot project has established the feasibility of a peer-led intervention to improve lifestyles among adolescents in HCM city and evidence of improvements in dietary intake. Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: ACTRN12619000421134.

BackgroundThe aim of this research was to describe the patterns of consumption of multiple sugar-sweetened beverages (including modern and traditional ones) among adolescents in Ho Chi Minh City and to identify a possible relationship between this consumption and overweight, obesity, and other factors.MethodsA secondary analysis from a cross-sectional study of 11–15-year-old students from 31 junior high schools across Ho Chi Minh City was used. We measured the students’ anthropometric status and assessed beverage consumption using a validated Food Frequency Questionnaire. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to identify the association between the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, obesity and other factors.ResultsThe sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) ranged widely from modern soft drinks and powdered drinks to traditional sugar-added fruit and leaf juices, and milk-based drinks. These beverages were very popular among 2,660 participants with 36% consuming at least one variety daily. Factors positively associated with sugar-sweetened beverage consumption included a higher level of physical activity, higher consumption of fast foods, and daily fruit and vegetable consumption. We found a negative association between milk-based SSBs and the overweight and obesity status of the students, i.e. every kcal more of fresh milk with sugar and condensed milk can reduce an obesity odd of 0.005 (95% CI [0.002–0.008], p < 0.001) and 0.004 (95% CI [0.002–0.010], p = 0.044) consecutively. None of the other SSBs was significantly related to adolescent overweight and obesity.ConclusionsMilk-based drinks potentially protect adolescents against overweight and obesity. Further research to assess this protection is needed.

ObjectivesVietnam is an endemic area for hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus infection (HBV-HCV), yet its largest city, Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), has no comprehensive policy to educate, screen, treat and protect healthcare workers (HCWs) from viral hepatitis. We conducted a mixed-methods study to document HBV-HCV infection rates, risk factors, local barriers and opportunities for providing education, screening and medical care for HCWs.DesignThis mixed-methods study involved an HBV and HCV serological evaluation, knowledge, attitude and practice survey about viral hepatitis and many in-depth interviews. Descriptive statistics and thematic content analysis using inductive and deductive approaches were used.SettingHCMC, Vietnam.ParticipantsHCWs at risk of viral hepatitis exposure at three hospitals in HCMC.ResultsOf the 210 invited HCWs, 203 were enrolled. Of the 203 HCWs enrolled, 20 were hepatitis B surface antigen-positive, 1 was anti-hepatitis C antibody (anti-HCV Ab)-positive, 57 were anti-hepatitis B core Ab-positive and 152 had adequate anti-hepatitis B surface Ab (anti-HBs Ab) titre (≥10IU/mL). Only 50% of the infected HCWs reported always using gloves during a clinical activity involving handling of blood or bodily fluid. Approximately 50% of HCWs were still not vaccinated against HBV following 1 year of employment. In-depth interviews revealed two major concerns for most interviewees: the need for financial support for HBV-HCV screening and treatment in HCWs and the need for specific HBV-HCV guidelines to be independently developed.ConclusionsThe high HBV infection rate in HCWs coupled with inadequate preventive occupational practices among the population in HCMC highlight the urgent needs to establish formal policy and rigorous education, screening, vaccination and treatment programmes to protect HCWs from HBV acquisition or to manage those living with chronic HBV in Vietnam.

Differences in physical activity (PA) might lead to long-term weight control. Studies on inverse relations between PA and changes in fatness among adolescents are limited. This paper examined the effect of PA on adolescents’ changing body fatness over 5 years in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). Two hundred thirty-five boys and 247 girls who have had skinfold thickness measurements in the baseline survey in 2004 were selected to follow yearly. We estimated PA as the average number of accelerometers’ counts/h. Slopes of triceps, sub-scapular skinfolds and BMI were calculated and classified as increasing or stable/decreasing. To assess the effects of the low level of activity (i.e. below the median of the average number of counts) on the fat gain (i.e. increasing slopes), relative risk and 95 % CI were estimated using Poisson regression. The average number of counts/h in boys (7·8) was significantly higher than that in girls (5·0) (P < 0·001). On average, active girls still gained 0·51 mm in triceps skinfold (TSF) over 5 years, while active boys lost 0·12 mm. After controlling for baseline energy intake, baseline triceps and baseline age, inactive adolescents were 1·39 times higher than active ones to increase the slope of triceps (95 % CI 1·19, 1·63). The risk ratio was 1·62 for those with more body fat at baseline. In general, inactive students gained substantially more subcutaneous fat, especially in their TSF, than more active ones. Thus, strategies to prevent adolescent obesity in HCMC should consider the important role of PA to control this problem in adolescents effectively.

Child health promotion has used peer-led interventions for decades, but their effectiveness for childhood obesity is unknown. This review assesses the effectiveness of peer-led interventions on child and adolescent obesity using a range of adiposity outcomes. We included studies that used a peer-led approach for delivering behavior change communications with a minimum intervention duration of four weeks. Studies needed to report results for any of the outcomes: BMI, BMI z-score or BMI percentile. The review included 14 studies of moderate to high quality from high-income countries. A meta-analysis involving 2506 children from 9 studies showed that programs were effective with a mean difference in BMI of −0.15 kg/m2 (95% confidence interval [−0.26, −0.03]), p = 0.01. Heterogeneity was low (I2 = 28%, p = 0.19) for children in the intervention group. The mean difference varied with subgroups with significantly greater effects from interventions that focused on physical activity alone or with longer duration of implementation. Sensitivity analysis showed similar significant findings to the primary meta-analysis. We found moderately strong evidence to support the advantageous effect of peer-led interventions for obesity prevention in children and adolescents. However, given the small number of studies included, and possible reporting bias, the results must be interpreted cautiously.Plain language summaryTo ensure ongoing health, we need to prevent excess weight gain in children and adolescents. Using peer influence to promote healthy living seems to be an effective method for this age group. We combined the results of 14 studies from high-income countries with a variety of methods, but all had peer-leaders delivering critical health messages. We found that peer-led interventions reduced BMI, especially when the target children were from schools and aged 11 or more, with interventions which lasted six months or longer and promoted physical activity. However, we could only include a limited number of studies and results from further studies are needed to ensure that this approach reliably improves child health.

Background The emerging epidemic of overweight/obesity in adolescents in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam underlines the importance of studying the metabolic syndrome in Vietnamese adolescents who are becoming progressively more inactive. No study in Vietnam has examined the association of metabolic syndrome with moderate to vigorous physical activity (PA) levels among adolescents. We aimed to examine this association in a sample of urban adolescents from Ho Chi Minh City. Methods A cross-sectional assessment was conducted in 2007 on a representative sample of 693 high-school students from urban districts in Ho Chi Minh City. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to the International Diabetes Federation criteria and physical activity was measured with Actigraph accelerometers. The association between physical activity and metabolic syndrome was assessed by using multiple logistic regression models. Results Overall 4.6% of the adolescents and 11.8% of the overweight/obese adolescents had metabolic syndrome. Elevated BP was the most common individual component of the metabolic syndrome (21.5%), followed by hypertriglyceridemia (11.1%). After adjusting for other study factors, the odds of metabolic syndrome among youth in the lowest physical activity group (<43 minutes of physical activity/day) were five times higher than those in the highest physical activity group (>103 minutes/day) (AOR = 5.3, 95% CI: 1.5, 19.1). Metabolic syndrome was also positively associated with socioeconomic status (AOR = 9.4, 95% CI: 2.1, 42.4). Conclusions A more physically active lifestyle appears to be associated with a lower odds of metabolic syndrome in Vietnamese adolescents. Socio-economic status should be taken into account when planning interventions to prevent adolescent metabolic syndrome.

Adolescence is a period of life when dietary patterns and nutrient intakes may greatly influence adult fatness. This study assesses the tracking of energy and nutrient intakes of Ho Chi Minh City adolescents over 5 years. It explores the possible relationships between energy and the percentage of energy from macronutrients with BMI. Height, weight, time spent on physical activity, screen time and dietary intakes were collected annually between 2004 and 2009 among 752 junior high school students with a mean age of 11·87 years at baseline. The tracking was investigated using correlation coefficients and weighted kappa statistics ( ) for repeated measurements. Mixed effect models were used to investigate the association between energy intakes and percentage energy from macronutrients with BMI. There were increases in the mean BMI annually, but greater in boys than in girls. Correlation coefficients (0·2 < < 0·4) between participants' intakes at baseline and 5-year follow-up suggest moderate tracking. Extended kappa values were lowest for energy from carbohydrate (CHO) in both girls and boys ( = 0·18 & 0·24, respectively), and highest for protein in girls ( = 0·47) and fat in boys ( = 0·48). The multilevel models showed the following variables significantly correlated with BMI: CHO, fat, percentage of energy from CHO, fat, time spent for moderate to vigorous physical activity, screen time, age and sex. The poor to fair tracking observed in this cohort suggests that individual dietary patterns exhibited in the first year are unlikely to predict energy and nutrient intakes in the fifth year.

Background Accurate assessment of physical activity in adolescents at population level is necessary. In Vietnam, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) and Physical Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents (PAQA) have been validated against accelerometers for use in adolescents. However, these questionnaires were originally designed for adults and showed poor validity. This study aims to assess the reliability and validity of the Vietnamese Adolescent Physical Activity Recall Questionnaire (V-APARQ). Methods One hundred and sixty five students were recruited from four junior high schools in Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam in 2004. V-APARQ asked students to report their usual organised and non-organised physical activity during a normal week and moderate- (MPA), vigorous- (VPA and moderate-to-vigorous- (MVPA) physical activity were calculated. Reliability was assessed by test-retest (2 weeks apart). Construct validity was assess by 7-day accelerometry, following the completion of the first V-APARQ. Results The construct validity of the V-APARQ showed Spearman correlation of 0.25 and 0.22 for the assessment of the questionnaire when compared to the accelerometer. Test-retest reliability showed a weighted Kappa of 0.75 and the intra-class correlation coefficient for MVPA was 0.57 for the whole group (MPA =0.37 and VPA = 0.62), and were higher in boys than girls. The Bland-Altman plots for reliability show a mean difference of 0.4 minutes (95 % CI = −3.2, 4.0) for daily MVPA (n = 146) and the limits of agreement were −42.6 to 43.4 mins/day. In boys MVPA was lower on the first, compared with second administration of V-APARQ while the reverse was observed among girls. Conclusion The reliability and validity of the V-APARQ were low to fair, but are comparable to other self-report physical activity questionnaires used among adolescents. V-APARQ will be useful for population monitoring of change in physical activity among urban Vietnamese adolescents.

Febrile seizures (FS) are common and usually self-limited, yet a subset of children develop epilepsy. Early risk stratification remains challenging, particularly in resource-limited settings with limited access to long-term neurologic follow-up. We aimed to estimate the incidence and identify the most robust predictors of epilepsy following FS in children. In this prospective cohort study at Children's Hospital 2 (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam), 631 children aged 1 month to 6 years with first FS were enrolled (March 2023-March 2024) and followed through July 2025. Children with any history of seizures prior to the index FS were excluded. Epilepsy was defined per the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) 2014 criteria. Predictor selection used clinical reasoning and Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA), followed by multivariable Cox regression. Discrimination was evaluated using Harrell's C-index and time-dependent AUC; internal validation was performed with bootstrap resampling. Over a median follow-up of 2.0 years, 35 children (5.5%) developed epilepsy, corresponding to an incidence of 29 per 1000 person-years. After BMA, four independent predictors were retained: neurodevelopmental delay (HR = 8.78), family history of epilepsy (HR = 2.66), focal seizures (HR = 3.23), and each additional FS recurrence (HR = 1.50). The predictor set showed strong discrimination (C-index: 0.87; AUC at 24 months: 0.89 with 95% CI: 0.82, 0.95). This parsimonious set of clinical predictors may support early counseling and targeted follow-up of children with FS, especially where pediatric neurology resources are limited. Model development and validation are ongoing. We followed 631 children after their first febrile seizure to see who might later develop epilepsy. About 5.5% of children developed epilepsy within 2 years. Children with developmental delay, focal seizures, a family history of epilepsy, or repeated FS were at higher risk. Using these four simple factors may help doctors give families clearer advice and closer follow-up, especially where access to pediatric neurologists is limited.

Skinfold thickness is an indicator of body fat, allowing a more detailed description of obesity. In Vietnam, there are no published percentile values for triceps and subscapular skinfold measurements from population-based studies of adolescents. This study aims to establish percentile tables for triceps, subscapular, and triceps + subscapular skinfolds (TSF + SSSF) sum. We used data from a cross-sectional survey conducted in Ho Chi Minh City. BMI, triceps and subscapular skinfold measurements of 2660 students were obtained. The L (Box-Cox transformation), M (median), and S (coefficient of variation) parameters were used to generate exact percentiles. The proportion of overweight was higher in boys (18.4% vs. 8.2%, p < 0.0001). Triceps, subscapular skinfolds, and TSF + SSSF were significantly higher in girls than in boys (p < 0.001). Our results provide sex- and age-specific reference values for skinfold thickness that can be applied as a new complimentary assessment tool for Vietnamese adolescents.