Abstract
Childhood obesity is increasing in frequency worldwide with including developing countries, while it was considered previously as the disease of the first world or rich people. The aim is to assess the prevalence of overweight and obesity with associated risk factors in obese children visiting Al-Kindy Obesity Unit. Throughout a period started in December 1, 2019 to February 29, 2020 in Baghdad, 109 children were randomly involved, 69 (63.3%) girls and 40 (36.7%) boys. Body mass index was evaluated in front of standard tables. A questionnaire was built to gather suspected risk factors. Eight (7.3%) of our sample were overweight [1 (2.5%) boy and 7 (10.1%) girls] and 101 (92.7 %) of our sample were obese [39 (97.5%) boys and 62 (89.9%) girls]. Significant associations were found between overweight and health education, sleep, physical activity, snacks and TV watching. Obesity was more frequently encountered than overweight in children with (heavy weights) who seek help visiting obesity units. Unbalanced dietary habits, sedentary lifestyle and spending more hours on watching TV are important risk factors.
Highlights
Obesity could be identified as a condition of excessive fat deposition in adipose tissue, affecting body health (Akram et al, 2000)
Kindy Obesity Unit at Al-Kindy College of Medicine starting from December 1, 2019 to February 29, 2020
Out of the studied patients 8 (7.3%) of them were overweight [1 (2.5%) boy and 7 (10.1%) girls] and 101 (92.7 %) of them were obese [39 (97.5%) boys and 62 (89.9%) girls] (Figure1)
Summary
Obesity could be identified as a condition of excessive fat deposition in adipose tissue, affecting body health (Akram et al, 2000). World Health Organization (WHO) depends on ≥ 30 body mass index (BMI) to indicate obesity (Swinburn et al, 2019). The problem of obesity becomes a major health issue throughout the world, leading to higher chances of non-communicable diseases (NCD) (Musaiger 2004; Sibai et al, 2010). Owing to the already limited resources of developing world, NCD due to obesity in the community has a significant burden on whole health system which might be greatly improved with even mild to moderate weight modification (Ogden et al, 2007)
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