THE STUDY OF SOME OBESITY ASSOCIATED FACTORS IN PRIMARY SCHOOL GIRLS

Obesity is excessive body fat on a scale that adversely affects health. Childhood obesity is increasing world-wide and is an important risk factor for many chronic diseases. In order to explore the association between childhood obesity and putative risk factors among primary school girls, the present study was carried out. In this study, all the obese students (according to Iranian references) from a sample of 835 school girls aged 8-11y were considered as the case group (n=134). 134 control students with normal weight (5th percentile < BMI ≤ 85th Percentile) were chosen randomly and obese children were matched with non–obese children by age, school and classroom. For each subject, we interviewed the mother and filled 3 questionnaires covering potential risk factors for obesity. Results showed that obese children had significantly higher probability of having obese parents compared to controls. Daily energy and macronutrient intake and frequency of consuming fast foods and fizzy drinks were higher in the case group. Compared to normal children, obese ones spent more time in front of the TV or the computer non-obese children; the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). The duration of daily physical activity, energy and macronutrient intake per kilogram body weight, and parental education were all significantly higher in the control group (P<0.05). Most obese girls were born in winter or autumn while non–obese girls were born mostly in spring and summer (P<0.015). Obesity is a multi-factorial syndrome involving genetic, environmental and behavioral alterations. In this study, daily energy and macronutrient intake, physical activity, parental education, season of birth, frequency for eating fast-foods and fizzy drinks and time spent watching T.V. and videos or working with computers turned out to be risk factors.