The Growth Pattern among Elementary School Students in Kermanshah, Iran

The aim of the present study was to assess the growth pattern (obesity, overweight, and thinness) among 6 to11 year-old schoolchildren in Kermanshah, Iran during 2010. A cross-sectional study was performed in a randomly selected population of 1400 elementary school students. Data on weight and height was used to calculate body mass index (BMI). In addition, age, parental education levels, and father's job and employment status of mothers were collected for all children. The BMI cut-offs provided by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the percentiles computed in the population studied were used for the classification of the children and adolescents as underweight (< 5th percentile), normal (5–84th percentile), overweight (85–94th percentile), and obese (≥ 95th percentile). Based on the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) references, stunting were defined by the 3rd percentile. The overall prevalence of overweight was 12.6% and 14.3% for boys and girls, respectively. The overall prevalence of obesity was 13.4% and 8.1% among boys and girls, respectively. The corresponding values for the overall prevalence of thinness were 8.2% and 9.3%. The prevalence of stunting was 5.6% in boys and 8.2% in girls. Children with more educated mothers had a higher prevalence of overweigh than children with less educated mothers. There were significant associations between the growth pattern and father's education level and job. Our findings revealed an increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity and a decreasing trend of thinness among elementary school students in Kermanshah in comparison with the national data.