Abstract
The present analysis is based on data regarding the level of obesity amongst 662 children and adolescents of 560 families. These were the families of students of American International University – Bangladesh. The children and adolescents were classified by the level of obesity which was measured by percentiles of BMI.
 It was observed, that among 662 children and adolescents 465 were in the underweight group. Obesity and severe obesity were observed among 9.1% children and adolescents. Among the obese and severe obesity group, 53.3% killed their time while watching television, which is not a scheduled healthy activity and another 26.7% utilized the time playing sports and games, which is a planned and scheduled healthy activity. Obesity and severe obesity were associated with killing time in doing unhealthy activity. Among the obese and severe obesity group of children 31.7% were diabetic patients. Diabetes and level of obesity were significantly associated [ = 8.75, p-value = 0.033]. Among obese and severe obese groups, around 42% were habituated in taking restaurant food and these two characteristics were also significantly associated with food habit of the children [ = 94, p-value = 0.000]. Some socioeconomic factors of parents, viz. parent’s education, father’s occupation, and income of the families were also associated with level of obesity.
 The logistic regression analysis showed that all the variables, except the variable mother’s occupation, were significantly related to the variation of the level of obesity of children. For underweight children family income had a significant impact on their level of obesity.
Highlights
Child obesity is a condition where excess body fats negatively affects a child’s health or well-being and create a chronic calorie imbalance situation [1]
In Bangladesh, the prevalence rates of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents varied from 1.0% to 20.6% and 0.3% to 25.6% [4]
Our objective is to study the level of obesity among the children and adolescents of affluent families
Summary
Child obesity is a condition where excess body fats negatively affects a child’s health or well-being and create a chronic calorie imbalance situation [1]. In the developed world obesity is the most common disease of childhood and adolescence [2][3]. Due to the rising prevalence of obesity in children and its many adverse health effects, it is being recognized as a serious public health concern. In Bangladesh, the prevalence rates of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents varied from 1.0% to 20.6% and 0.3% to 25.6% [4]. These were the information for children and adolescents in all types of families in Bangladesh. Among Bangladeshi urban children across different age groups and sexes there were higher [17.9%] prevalence of overweight and obesity [5]. 43 million pre-school children throughout the world have been estimated to be overweight and obese and 92 million are considered to be at risk of being
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