Prevalence of obesity and its influencing factors among affluent school children of Bangalore City

Abstract

Objective: The problem of overweight (OW) and obesity (OB) is not confined only to developed countries but is also widely prevalent in developing countries. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of OW and OB among affluent school going adolescents in Bangalore, India, and identify its associated factors. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional and institutional study, adopting a multistage stratified cluster sampling procedure, was carried out on 1750 adolescents 12-15 years of age of both sexes from Bengaluru, India. Results: The prevalence of OW was 17.4% among boys and 17.0% among girls. Prevalence of OB was 7.4% in boys and 7% in girls. There was a higher prevalence of OW and OB in boys compared with girls, but difference was not significant. Junk food and chocolate eating habits had more prevalence of OB and OW than underweight indicating that the caloric intake is associated with an increase in body mass index (BMI). On assessing the relationship between caries and nutritional status, OW children had mean decayed missing filled surfaces (DMFS) of 1.57 ± 3.104 while obese children had a mean DMFS of 0.91 ± 1.702. The relation between BMI and DMFS was statistically significant. Conclusion: The increasing trend of the modern day epidemic of OW/OB in children calls for immediate action in both rural and urban areas to reduce the incidence through appropriate nutritional intervention programs involving school children, their parents, and school authorities.