PREVALENCE OF OBESITY & OVERWEIGHT AMONG 7-14 YEAR OLD STUDENTS IN THE CITY OF AHWAZ

Childhood obesity is an increasing problem world-wide with important health consequences. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the prevalence of obesity and overweight among 7-14 year old students and clinical status of obese students in Ahwaz. For this purpose a randomized cluster sampling was undertaken. Students with BMIs at the 95th percentile or more for age and sex or whose BMI s are more than 30 (whichever was smaller) were considered obese and students whose BMIs were at the 85th percentile or more but less than 95th percentile were considered overweight. Assessment of 4793 students showed that the prevalence of obesity and overweight was 2.2% and 6.0% respectively. Obesity was most prevalent in 12-14 year old students. Assessment of obese students showed that 66.7% of obese students at least had one obese parent and 73.1% had family history of type 2 diabetes in their first degree relatives. Only 8.3% of obese students had considerable physical activity. 76.8% were spending 3-6 hours per day watching television. Physical examination of obese students showed that 25.9% had genu valgum (medial angulation of the lower extremity at the knee). Systolic hypertension was detected in 31.5% of them. None of them had signs of endocrine diseases. According to these results, prevalence of obesity in our city is low compared with other countries but for prevention purposes, it is necessary to educate health care providers in schools and inform parents about obesity and its complications. Furthermore, screening of obese children for hypertension is recommended.