Abstract
Background: Obesity is increasing rapidly in developing countries undergoing rapid nutritional transition. This transition has affected the lifestyle with a reduction in the energy expenditure along with an increase in energy intake. Therefore, obesity has no longer remained a Western problem alone. However, in India little attention is paid towards adolescent obesity until recently. Subjects & methods: Boys (n=229) covering the age 9-15 years were included. Measurements at baseline and follow-up included weight, height, body fat %, skin fold thickness at four sites, waist circumference and blood pressure. After school intervention consisted of five 60 minutes sessions per week. After one academic year the effect of physical activity intervention on adiposity was evaluated. Results: Subjects with high participation in daily physical program of the school showed significant reduction in body fat (1.0 %), skin fold thickness at triceps (1.3mm) and biceps (1.2mm) as compared to their baseline measurement. Further the prevalence of overweight among high participation group showed significant decrease compared to low participation group. More importantly there was a significant reduction in all three indicators of central adiposity highlighting the beneficial effect of physical activity as an intervention in tackling the overall as well as central adiposity among adolescents. Our observation thus highlights the fact that though it may be difficult to administer dietary intervention in growing children there is a potential in administrating physical activity program for at least 50 minutes/ day for school children for combating adolescent obesity. Conclusion: Findings from the current study brings out for the first time highlights potential benefits of physical activity and the concern for introducing it into the curriculum on a daily basis rather than weekly basis which is currently prevalent in all the schools for better health of adolescents.
Highlights
World Health Organization (2000) has labeled obesity as a “global epidemic” and estimated that billion people worldwide are overweight and 300 million are obese 1
Physical activity interventions are more feasible for implementation because children are fond of outdoor play and increasing physical activity in form of attractive games is easier to implement than dietary intervention that often involves restriction of foods that are favorite to children
We defined a cut-off for high participation based on the report “Physical Activity and Health: A report from the Surgeon General
Summary
World Health Organization (2000) has labeled obesity as a “global epidemic” and estimated that billion people worldwide are overweight and 300 million are obese 1. The intervention was aimed to increase physical activity and to examine its effect on adiposity indicators among adolescents. The change in BMI was not significant children with high participation had a significant reduction in body fat (1.0 %) at follow-up.
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