Assessment of Anthropometric Status of Adolescents in Public Guidance Schools in East Tehran, 2006

Adolescence is a critical period of growth and development. Inadequate nutrition during adolescence may increase the incidence of non-communicable diseases in adulthood. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of underweight, at-risk-of overweight, overweight, and stunting in adolescents, as part of a project entitled “Nutrition and health education intervention program to improve the school buffets and nutritional behaviors of guidance school students". A descriptive, cross-sectional study was carried out on 780 students from 12 public guidance schools in East Tehran. Schools were chosen based on their population size and students’ gender in north, south, east, west and central areas of the zone 4. Samples were selected using the systematical random method in each grade. A questionnaire was completed about demographic characteristics for each subject. Weight and height were measured and body mass index (BMI) was calculated. The Percentiles of underweight((≤5th), at-risk-of-overweight (85-95th), and overweight (≥95th) were determined, and stunting was calculated based on height for age (≤10th) using the US CDC2000 BMI standards. Data were analyzed employing SPSS, the statistical tests being χ2, Fisher exact test, and T-test. The mean age (years) of girls and boys were 13.3 ± 1 and 13.3 ± 0.95, respectively. Family size in 53.5% of the adolescents was ≤4. 43% of their fathers were employees, while the majority of their mothers (88%) were housewives. The highest level of parents’ education was high school diploma (34% and 39% of the mothers and fathers, respectively). The mean weight and height of the girls and boys were 48.3 ± 11.9 Kg and 47.9± 13.3 Kg and 153.6±7.0 Cm and 153.4 ± 10.1 Cm, respectively, and the mean BMI was 20.2 ± 4.2.The data showed that 6% of the subjects were underweight, 12% at risk of overweight, 13% overweight, and 14.5% stunted. The prevalence of overweight and stunting among public guidance schools in East Tehran are high, which not only may affect their health but also will cause the community to confront problems as regards development, with serious challenges due to increased risk of non-communicable disease in future. Therefore, nutritional intervention programs using modern technology for this age group is required as one of the main priorities to obtain sustainable development in the country.