Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity in Children of Rural Population: A Prospective Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21276/t22xpc76Keywords:
obesity, overweight, schoolchildrenAbstract
Background: Obesity is generally classified as generalized obesity (GO) and abdominal obesity (AO). Individuals with obesity have higher rates of mortality and morbidity compared to non-obese individuals. Globally, the prevalence of childhood obesity has risen in recent years. The International Association for the Study of Obesity (IASO) and International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) estimate that 200 million school children are either overweight or obese. Aim of the study: To evaluate the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children of rural population.
Materials & Methods: For the study we selected subjects from the local government schools in the rural area. A total of 180 subjects with age ranging from 5-17 years were included in the study. The body weight was measured without shoes using a measuring scale and height to the nearest centimeter was taken. Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated as weight (in kilograms) divided by height (in meter squared). Results: In the study group, no. of obese patients was 12, no. of overweight subjects was 26 and no. of non-obese subjects was 142. We observed that maximum no. of obese children were seen in the age of 10 years (n=3) followed by age of 6, 14 and 15 years (n=2). No. of obese boys was 8 and no. of obese girls was 4. No. of overweight boys was 16 and no. of overweight girls was 10. Conclusion: The high frequency of obese and overweight children is observed in rural area. We found higher frequency of obesity in boys as compared to the girls. Obesity is a serious problem, which requires immediate attention, creating awareness program in the schools and parents encouraging their children to be involved in more physical exercises, sports and outdoor activities.
Downloads
References
National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Disease and Conditions Index: what are overweight and obesity.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Fact sheets.
International Obesity Task Force. [accessed on November 22, 2013]. Available from: http://www.iaso.org/iotf/obesity/obesitytheglobalepidemic/ for Saudi, Canada, South Africa, Australia and NZ estimates.
Ogden CL, Carroll MD, Curtin LR, Lamb MM, Flegal KM. Prevalence of high body mass index in US children and adolescents, 2007-2008. JAMA. 2010;303:242–9.
Wang Y, Lobstein T. Worldwide trends in childhood overweight and obesity. Int J Pediatr Obes. 2006;1:11–25.
Raj M, Krishna Kumar R. Obesity in children & adolescents. Indian J Med Res. 2010;132:598–607.
World Health Organization (WHO). Diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases. Report of a joint WHO/FAO expert consultation. World Health Organ Tech Rep Series. 2003;916:i–viii.
Bell AC, Ge K, Popkin BM. The road to obesity or the path to prevention: motorized transportation and obesity in China. Obes Res. 2002;10:277–83.
Zou Y, Zhang R, Zhou B, et al. A comparison study on the prevalence of obesity and its associated factors among city, township and rural area adults in China. BMJ Open. 2015;5(7):e008417. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2015-008417.
Kyriazis I, Rekleiti M, Saridi M, et al. Prevalence of obesity in children aged 6-12 years in Greece: nutritional behaviour and physical activity. Archives of Medical Science : AMS. 2012;8(5):859-864. doi:10.5114/aoms.2012.31296.
Williamson DA, Champagne CM, Han H, et al. Increased Obesity in Children Living in Rural Communities of Louisiana. International journal of pediatric obesity : IJPO : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity. 2009;4(3):160-165. doi:10.1080/17477160802596148.
Ranjani H, Mehreen TS, Pradeepa R, et al. Epidemiology of childhood overweight & obesity in India: A systematic review. The Indian Journal of Medical Research. 2016;143(2):160-174. doi:10.4103/0971-5916.180203.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 International Archives of BioMedical and Clinical Research
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors are required to sign and submit the completed “Copyright transfer Form” upon acceptance of publication of the paper. This is determined by a publishing agreement between the author and International Archives of Biomedical and Clinical Research. These rights might include the right to publish, communicate and distribute online. Author(s) retain the copyright of their work. International Archives of Biomedical and Clinical Research supports the need for authors to share, disseminate and maximize the impact of their research.
