FREQUENCY OF AND FACTORS LEADING TO OBESITY AND OVERWEIGHT IN SCHOOL CHILDREN
Abstract
Background: Obesity is considered as a global epidemic. Obesity in childhood and adolescent is anissue of concern because it is an important predictor of adult obesity. Identifying individuals whoare physically inactive, overweight or obese in school going age is very important. The objective ofthis study was to determine the frequency and factors leading to obesity in school children.Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted on children aged 13–16 years. It was aquestionnaire based survey with measurement of height and weight. Results: Total 431 childrenwere included in the study. Three hundred and nine (71.7%) of the students were in the normalcategory, i.e., less than 85th centile while 122 (28.3%) had weight greater than 85th centile and wereoverweight and obese. Positive association was found between eating out and weight categories,eating breakfast, intake of fresh fruits and vegetables and soft drinks, low physical activity, andincreased screen time. Frequency of overweight and obese children was high in children fromhigher socioeconomic status. Conclusion: There is strong association between strong determinantsof obesity and overweight. Health education of students for known risk factors should be integratedwith curriculum of science from elementary classes.Keywords: Obesity, Children, Determinants of obesityReferences
Obesity - A Global Epidemic. [Online] 2005 [Cited 2008 Jun
. Available at: http://obesity1.tempdomainname.com/
subs/fastfacts/obesity_global_epidemic.shtml
Rehman T, Rizvi Z, Siddiqui U, Ahmad S, Sophie A, Siddiqu
Mi, et al. Obesity in adolescents of Pakistan. J Pak Med Assoc
;53:315–9.
Martorell R. Obesity. 2020 Focus 5 (Health and Nutrition
Emerging and Reemerging Issues in Developing
Countries).[online] [cited 2008 Aug 1]. Available at:
http://www.ifpri.cgiar.org/2020/focus/focus05/focus05_07.htm.
Parsons TJ, Power C, Logan S, Summerbell CD. Childhood
predictors of adult obesity: a systematic review. Int J Obes Relat
Metab Disord1999;23(Suppl 8):S1–S107.
Measurement and Determinants of Childhood Obesity: An
INCLEN-McMaster Collaborative Program in 30 Countries.
[Online] [Cited 2008 Jun 12]. Available at:
http://www.inclentrust.org/index.php?option=content&task=vie
w&id=225&Itemid=277
Jafar TH, Qadri Z, Islam M, Hatcher J, Bhutta ZA, Chaturvedi
N. Rise in childhood obesity with persistently high rates of
under-nutrition among urban school-aged Indo-Asian children.
Arch Dis Child 2008;93:373–8.
James PT. Obesity: the worldwide epidemic. Clinics in
Dermatology 2004;22:276–80.
American public health association. What we know about
childhood obesity. URL: http://www.apha.org/programs/
resources/obesity/proresobesityknow.htm [Cited 2008 Aug 31].
Ariza AJ, Chen EH, Binns HJ, Christoffel KK. Risk factors for
overweight in five- to six-year-old Hispanic-American children:
a pilot study. J Urban Health 2004;81:150–61.
Pereira MA, Kartashov AI, Ebbeling CB, Van Horn L, Slattery
ML, Jacobs DR Jr, et al. Fast-food habits, weight gain, and
insulin resistance (the CARDIA study): 15-year prospective
analysis. Lancet 2005;365:36–42.
Statistics on obesity, physical activity and diet: England.
[Online] 2009 [Cited 2010 Feb 24]. Available at:
http://www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/health-andlifestyles/obesity/statistics-on-obesity-physical-activity-anddiet:-england-february-2009
Barlow SE, Expert committee recommendations regarding the
prevention, assessment, and treatment of child and adolescent
overweight and obesity: Summary Report. Pediatrics
;120;S164–92.
Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS) Core
J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad 2012;24(2)
http://www.ayubmed.edu.pk/JAMC/24-2/Aiesha.pdf
Expanded Questions [Online] Cited 2008 Jun 12]. Available at:
http://www.cdc.gov/gshs/pdf/2005CoreExpanded.pdf
WHO. Growth reference 5–19 years. [Online] [Cited 2008 Jun
. Available at: http://www.who.int/
growthref/who2007_bmi_for_age/en/index.html
Warraich HJ, Javed F, Faraz-ul-Haq M, Khawaja FB, Saleem S.
Prevalence of Obesity in School-Going Children of Karachi. PLoS
ONE 2009;4:e4816.
Kosti RI, Panagiotakos DB. The epidemic of obesity in children
and adolescents in the world. Cent Eur J Public Health
;14:151–9.
Goyal RK, Shah VN, Saboo BD, Phatak SR, Shah NN, Gohel
MC et al. Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity in Indian
Adolescent School Going Children: Its relationship with
Socioeconomic Status and Associated Lifestyle Factors. J Assoc
Physicians India 2010;58:151–8.
Croezen S, Visscher TLS, ter Bogt NCW , Veling ML, HavemanNies A. Skipping breakfast, alcohol consumption and physical
inactivity as risk factors for overweight and obesity in adolescents:
results of the E-MOVO project. Eur J Clin Nutrition 2009;63:405–
Cho S, Dietrich M, Brown JP, Clark CA, Block G. The Effect of
Breakfast Type on Total Daily energy Intake and Body Mass
Index: Results from the Third National Health and Nutrition
Examination Survey (NHANES III). J Am Coll Nutr
;22:296–302.
Ashlesha D, Nancy N. Junk Food in Schools and Childhood
Obesity Much Ado About Nothing? RAND Health and labour
population, 2009. available at:
http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/working_papers/20
/RAND_WR672.pdf
Field AE, Austin SB, Gillman MW, Rosner B, Rockett HR,
Colditz GA. Snack food intake does not predict weight change
among children and adolescents. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord.
;28:1210–6.
Field AE, Gillman MW, Rosner B, Rockett HR, Colditz GA.
Association between fruit and vegetable intake and change in
body Mass index among a large sample of children and
adolescents in the United States. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord.
;27:821–6.
Ludwig DS, Peterson KE, Gortmaker SL. Relation between
consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks and childhood obesity:
a prospective, observational analysis. Lancet 2001;357:505–8.
Steffen LM, Dai S, Fulton JE, Labarthe DR. Overweight in
Children and Adolescents Associated with TV Viewing and
Parental Weight: Project Heart Beat. Am J Prev Med 2009;37(1
Suppl):S50–55.
Tremblay S, Williams JD. Is the Canadian childhood obesity
epidemic related to physical inactivity? Int J Obesity 2003;
:1100–5.
Published
Issue
Section
License
Journal of Ayub Medical College, Abbottabad is an OPEN ACCESS JOURNAL which means that all content is FREELY available without charge to all users whether registered with the journal or not. The work published by J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad is licensed and distributed under the creative commons License CC BY ND Attribution-NoDerivs. Material printed in this journal is OPEN to access, and are FREE for use in academic and research work with proper citation. J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad accepts only original material for publication with the understanding that except for abstracts, no part of the data has been published or will be submitted for publication elsewhere before appearing in J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad. The Editorial Board of J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad makes every effort to ensure the accuracy and authenticity of material printed in J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad. However, conclusions and statements expressed are views of the authors and do not reflect the opinion/policy of J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad or the Editorial Board.
USERS are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access.
AUTHORS retain the rights of free downloading/unlimited e-print of full text and sharing/disseminating the article without any restriction, by any means including twitter, scholarly collaboration networks such as ResearchGate, Academia.eu, and social media sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Scholar and any other professional or academic networking site.
