Abstract
Introduction:Childhood obesity has become a single marker for children at risk for development of various non-communicable diseases later in life. This study is conducted to estimate the prevalence of obesity and the risk factors associated with it and to evaluate Waist Height Ratio(WHtR)as a screening tool to identify obesity in children. Materials and Methods:Across sectional study of children between 10 and 15 years of age from upper socioeconomic class from 2 urban schools. Results: The prevalence of obesity is 11.7% and prevalence of asymptomatic hypertension is 12%. The Waist height ratio is more than 0.5 in 21.2%. About 50.5% of obese and 40.5% of overweight children had a WtHR of >0.5. Waist Height Ratio correlated significantly with all 5 risk factors taken for the study. Conclusion: The prevalence of obesity in children between 10 to 15 years of age in this study is 11.7%. The Waist Height Ratio correlated significantly with the risk factors. Larger studies specific to Indian children are needed to make a clear cutoff value for WHtR to improve the sensitivity of screening.
Highlights
Childhood obesity has become a single marker for children at risk for development of various noncommunicable diseases later in life
The aim of this study is to estimate the prevalence of obesity among school going children between 10 to 15 years, to assess the risk factors associated with them and to evaluate the Waist Height Ratio (WHtR) as a screening tool for obesity
Children were categorized as Normal, Overweight, obese and underweight based on Body Mass Index (BMI) as per National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) guidelines with respect to their age and sex
Summary
Childhood obesity has become a single marker for children at risk for development of various noncommunicable diseases later in life. This study is conducted to estimate the prevalence of obesity and the risk factors associated with it and to evaluate Waist Height Ratio (WHtR) as a screening tool to identify obesity in children. The Waist height ratio is more than 0.5 in 21.2%. Waist Height Ratio correlated significantly with all 5 risk factors taken for the study. Conclusion: The prevalence of obesity in children between 10 to 15 years of age in this study is 11.7%. The Waist Height Ratio correlated significantly with the risk factors. In 1998, WHO declared obesity as a global epidemic in view of increasing incidence of obesity and its co-morbidities [1]. There are several risk factors like sedentary life style, high caloric dense diets, behavior changes because of increased urbanization and the regression of traditional life style patterns.
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