A study of socio – demographic co-relates of overweight in children in an urban school.
Abstract
Introduction: Generally individuals with Body Mass Index (BMI) exceeding the age-gender-specific 95th percentile are considered overweight and those with BMI between the 85th and 95th percentiles are at risk of overweight.
Material and Methods: The present research was a cross sectional descriptive study undertaken to determine the socio – demographic co-relates of overweight amongst school children in the age group of 5 to 10 years in an urban school. All the 1207 children aged 5 to 10 years enrolled in the school during the study period were studied. The study consisted of anthropometric measurements and an interviewer administered questionnaire.
Results: Out of the total of 1207 children examined, 57.9% were male while 42.1% were female. Based on BMI criteria, overall, 16.5%, 49.6%, 18.4% and 15.5% of the children were <5th, ≥5th – <85th, ≥85th - <95th and ≥95th percentile, respectively. Amongst the socio-demographic factors, mother’s working status was not found to have any significant effect on the weight status of the children as was family size, total number of children in the family and diet preference. However, more children who belonged to the better socio-economic strata were found to be overweight.
Discussion: Results from the present study were found to be comparable to those of other studies conducted in similar set-ups.
Conclusion: The study revealed that overall prevalence of overweight was 15.5%, with 18.4% being at risk of overweight. Introduction of healthy lifestyle is essential for prevention of overweight/ obesity in these age groups.
Downloads
References
Donohoue A Patricia. Obesity. In: Behrman E Richard, Kleigman M Robert and Jenson B Hal editors. Nelson: Textbook of Pediatrics. 17th Edition. Saunders (Elsevier), 2004: 173-177.
World Health Organisation. Fact Sheet No. 311. Sep 2006. Accessed on 10 Oct 2006.
Flier S Jeffrey and Maratos-Flier Eleftheria. Obesity. In: Kasper L Dennis, Braunwald Eugene, Fauci S Anthony, Hauser L Stephen, Longo L Dan and Jameson J Larry editors. Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine. 16th Edition. McGraw Hill: Medical Publishing Division, 2005: 422-429.
Weaver A Karen and Piatek Ann. Childhood obesity. In: Samour Patricia Queen, Helm Kathy King and Lang E Carol editors. Handbook of Pediatric Nutrition. 2nd Edition. Jones and Bartlett Publications, 2004: 173-189.
Shetty S Prakash. Food and Nutrition. In: Detels Roger, McEwen James, Beaglehole Robert and Tanaka Heizo editors. Oxford Textbook of Public Health. 4th Edition. Oxford Medical Publications, 2005: 163-164.
Powles John. Public health policy in developed countries. In: Detels Roger, McEwen James, Beaglehole Robert and Tanaka Heizo editors. Oxford Textbook of Public Health. 4th Edition. Oxford Medical Publications, 2005: 270-271.
Jelliffe B Derrick and Jelliffe EF Patrice editors. Obesity. In: Community Nutritional Assessment. Oxford Medical Publications, 1989: 292-293.
Kafatos A, Codrington C A and Linardakis M. Obesity in Childhood: The Greek Experience. In: Simopoulos P Artemis editor. World Review of Nutrition and Dietetics – Nutrition and Fitness: Obesity, the Metabolic Syndrome, Cardiovascular Disease and Cancer (Volume - I). Karger, 2005: 27-35.
Astrup Arne. Obesity. In: Geisler Catherine and Powers Hilary editors. Human Nutrition. 11th Edition. Elsevier (Churchill Livingstone), 2006: 379-399.
Ogden CL, Carroll MD, Curtin LR, McDowell MA, Tabak CJ, Flegal KM. Prevalence of overweight and obesity in the United States, 1999-2004. JAMA. 2006; 5; 295 (13):1549-55.
Cole TJ, Bellizzi MC, Flegal KM, Dietz WH. Establishing a standard definition for child overweight and obesity worldwide: international survey. BMJ 2000; 320: 1240–1243.
Bhardwaj S, Misra A, Khurana L, Gulati S, Shah P, Vikram NK. Childhood obesity in Asian Indians: a burgeoning cause of insulin resistance, diabetes and sub-clinical inflammation. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2008; 17 Suppl 1:172-5. Accessed on 31st May 2008.
Marwaha RK, Tandon N, Singh Y, Aggarwal R, Grewal K, Mani K. A study of growth parameters and prevalence of overweight and obesity in school children from Delhi. Indian Pediatrics. 2006; 43 (11): 943-52.
Chhatwal J, Verma M, Riar SK. Obesity among pre-adolescent and adolescents of a developing country (India). Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2004; 13(3):231-5. Accessed on 19 Jun 08.
Ramachandra A, Snehalata C, Vinitha R et al. Prevalence of overweight in urban Indian adolescent school children. Diabetes Res Clin Pract 2002; 57: 185-190.
Kapil U, Singh P, Pathak P et al. Prevalence of obesity amongst affluent adolescent school children in Delhi. Indian Paediatrics. 2002; 39: 449-452.
World Health Organisation. Obesity: preventing and managing the global epidemic, Geneva; June 1997: 3-5.
Donohoue A Patricia. Groth and Development. In: Behrman E Richard, Kleigman M Robert and Jenson B Hal editors. Nelson: Textbook of Pediatrics. 17th Edition. Saunders (Elsevier), 2004: 46 -49.
Growth reference charts. World Health Organisation 2008. Accessed on 25 August 2008.
Agarwal KN, Manwani AH, Khanduja et al. Physical Growth of Indian Children. Indian Pediatrics. 1970; 7 (3): 146 – 155.
Marwaha RK, Tandon N, Singh Y, Aggarwal R, Grewal K, Mani K. A study of growth parameters and prevalence of overweight and obesity in school children from Delhi. Indian Pediatrics. 2006; 43 (11): 943-52.
Vijaya Raghavan K, Singh Darshan, Swaminathan MC. Heights and Weights of Well- nourished Indian School Children. Indian Journal of Medical Research. 1971; 59 (4): 648-654.
Rath B, Ghosh S, Mohan M et al. Anthropometric Indices of Children (5 – 15 years) of a Privileged Community. Indian Pediatrics. 1978; 15 (8): 653 – 665.
Anuradha R, Hemachandran S, Dutta R. The waist circumference measurement: a simple method for assessing the abdominal obesity. J Clin Diagn Res. 2012; 6(9):1510-3.
Kar SS, Dube R, Kar SS. Childhood obesity-an insight into preventive strategies. Avicenna J Med. 2014; 4(4):88-93.
Chopra A, Rao NC, Gupta N, Vashisth S, Lakhanpal M. Influence of behavioral determinants on deviation of body mass index among 12-15 years old school children of Panchkula. Epidemiol Health. 2014; 36:e2014021.
Hormis N, D'silva F. Obesity among adolescents of urban and rural schools in Mangalore. Nurs J India. 2013; 104(3):106-9.
Copyright (c) 2015 Acta Medica Scientia
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
A) Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
B) Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
C) Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
