Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity Among Middle School Children in Romania

Abstract

"Introduction. The early ages of adolescence, between 11-14, are accompanied by a great fluctuation of the values of sudden physical growth, of temperament and of personality. Periodical monitoring of somatic indicators and determining the body mass index are methods necessary for monitoring the state of health of school children. Goals. The goal of this study is to assess the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children in middle school within Bihor, Cluj and Sălaj county and to compare the obtained results with the results of other studies of this nature. Subjects and methods. The sample group was made up of 962 middle school students. The method used was anthropometry. The body mass index was calculated in accordance with the BMI reference chart according to age and gender. The results of the measurements were statistically processed with the SPSS program. The descriptive analysis was performed and the differences between the average values were tested with the independent samples t-test. We calculated the relation between different variables using the Pearson correlation coefficient. Results. In this study, the prevalence of overweight and obesity were 15.1% respectively 9.8%. There was a significant positive correlation between age and BMI, r = 0.15, p < 0.001, but a negative correlation between age and physical activity, r = - 0.25, p < 0.001. Conclusions. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 24.9%. The prevalence of overweight and obesity is higher in boys than in girls. The prevalence of overweight is higher in urban boys than in rural boys. Keywords: overweight, obesity, preadolescence, height, weight."