Childhood play replaced by screens: Kenyan study warns of rising double burden of malnutrition
Siblings watch TV. Nutritionist has urged parents to be more intentional about scheduling physical activity. She called on urban developers to prioritise child development by incorporating playgrounds onto new estates.
What you need to know:
- A Kenyan study exposes childhood obesity and undernutrition, urging urgent action against the double malnutrition crisis.
- Researchers warn that urban children face growing obesity, screen addiction, and poor diets threatening Kenya’s future health.
More than a decade ago, when Peris Kamau was a child, days were measured not by the clock but by the games she and her friends played. Mornings began with the shouts of children playing kalongolongo, make-believe kitchens meticulously set up with mud pots and stick-stirred concoctions.
Afternoons belonged to hide-and-seek, and every week, they would invent new games, each more energetic than the last. Each day, they played until the sky turned a soft, dusty pink, and the distant calls of their mothers signalled it was time to go home. Scraped knees and muddied clothes were badges of honour, proof of a day well spent.
Now a mother and nutritionist, she recalls those days with nostalgia, as she analyses how present-day children move less.
“I can tell you for a fact that my own child is overweight. I've done an assessment on her, and I know she’s overweight. When we were growing up, we used to have free time to play. After school and on weekends, we’d go out and play. But now, children are overwhelmed with schoolwork and don’t get to enjoy their childhood,” she says.
“Being a nutritionist, I try to provide healthy meals and reduce takeout. However, as a preteen, we fight over screen time constantly. This has been on the rise in many households. I have seen children carrying phones outside, hiding and pretending to play when they see an adult.”
At school, she says, children, especially those in private schools, are restrained by the size of the playground, which forces them to do physical activity and have meals in shifts.
“You are supposed to eat slowly and chew nicely and then have a moment to rest so the food doesn't give you gastric problems. The schools also need to look at the shops outside their gates that sell so much junk food to children cheaply. Parents don't even know about it. As a result, non-communicable diseases, especially diabetes, are on the rise.”
Her concerns mirror those in a new Kenyan study that shows a silent epidemic of double malnutrition in the country, encompassing insufficient nutrition on one hand and excessive nutrition on the other. This crisis is mainly affecting school-going children aged between 8 and 11, with nearly half of them not meeting recommended activity levels.
The study, conducted in 2024 in Thika town and published in the Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism in May 2025, shows that 11 in 100 children are overnourished, and 22 in 100 are underweight.
Overnutrition
“There is a presence of overnutrition in schoolchildren in Thika town. The same population is also undernourished, thus demonstrating the double burden of malnutrition,” the study says.
According to the World Health Organization, undernutrition is a state of insufficient nutrient intake leading to wasting, stunting, and micronutrient deficiencies, while overnutrition is an excess of nutrient intake that leads to obesity, overweight, and diet-related noncommunicable diseases.
The study also notes that the number of obese children in Kenya is on the rise, with more than one million children aged between five and 19 projected to be obese by the year 2030, driven by urbanisation and lifestyle.
The findings also point to a strong link between a child's school type and their nutritional status. Children attending private schools were found to have a significantly higher risk of overnutrition than those in public schools. The researchers suggest this could be a reflection of higher socioeconomic status, which often correlates with more sedentary behaviours—like motorised transport instead of walking to school—and greater access to high-energy foods and electronic devices.
Margaret Mburu, the author of the study, explains that she was driven to investigate this phenomenon by the increase in prevalence of overweight and obesity among Kenyan children and adolescents aged between five and 19 in the past five decades.
“The World Health Organization estimated that over 390 million children and adolescents were overweight in 2022. However, data on the prevalence of malnutrition in all its forms in schoolchildren are sparse, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Thika town was purposely selected because it is a key urban setting in Kiambu County, Kenya’s second most populous county,” she says.
“Overnutrition is influenced by a multitude of personal and environmental factors. I merely investigated the personal factors, including demographic factors, sedentary behaviours, physical activity level, and dietary practices, and their influence on the nutritional status of the school-going children. Despite all the participants having consumed food from at least five food groups, consumption of foods from unhealthy food groups, such as deep-fried and salty foods, was high.
“Furthermore, about 11.7 per cent of the children consumed caffeinated drinks. Nearly half (45.2 per cent) did not meet the recommended standards. Additionally, despite PE being a mandated lesson in the Kenyan curriculum for basic education, about 13.5 per cent reported not participating in a PE class the week preceding the survey. This finding agrees with the findings of the National Assessment System for Monitoring Learner Achievement class three study conducted by the Kenya National Examinations Council in 2018, which reported that about 18.8 per cent of pupils did not attend P.E. lessons.”
She explains that in children, overweight and obesity are particularly harmful as they contribute to the development of chronic non-communicable diseases, such as hypertension, dyslipidemias, Type 2 Diabetes, breathing difficulties such as asthma and sleep apnoea, and joint problems. It also contributes to impaired psychosocial health, premature death, and reduced quality of life.
“Children have reported that the most frequent reason for bullying, teasing, and stigmatisation is their body weight. This could result in impaired social development and education, as well as predispose the children to mental health problems such as eating disorders, suicidal ideation, and depression,” Margaret says.
"These factors combined are associated with an increased risk of premature mortality and may contribute to poor learning outcomes. This is partially attributable to higher school absences, repeating grades, lower engagement in class, dropping out of school, social isolation due to bullying, and reduced physical activity. Furthermore, children living with obesity have a higher likelihood of being obese in adulthood.”
The researchers emphasise that these findings have significant impacts on public health. They urge an integrated, multi-sectoral approach to address malnutrition and inactivity. Recommended interventions include promoting physical activity through school-based education and improving community infrastructure, encouraging active commuting, such as walking or cycling to school, and implementing national policies and curricula to ensure healthy physical activity among children.
Peris, the nutritionist, called for a multi-pronged approach to tackle the crisis, urging parents to be more intentional about scheduling physical activity. She directed urban developers to prioritise child development by incorporating playgrounds into new estates.
