Prevalence of overweight and obesity amongst adolescents and identification of risk factors

Abstract

Background: Childhood overweight and obesity are global nutritional concerns that are on the rise. These are among the most prevalent nutritional problems in the developed and developing countries and are associated with increased consumption of processed and fast foods, dependence on television and computers for leisure and less physically active lifestyle.Methods: The study has been conducted in the Department of Pediatric of Mahatma Gandhi Medical College of Mahatma Gandhi University of Medical Sciences and Technology, Jaipur. The study was a cross sectional analytical study conducted in schools of Jaipur. This study was done from August 2011 to November 2011 and 180 patients of aged between 10 to 18 years of age were enrolled.Results: In this study, we found the prevalence of overweight to be 32.65 percent in males and 34.15 percent in females. It was seen that 33.67 percent males and 32.93 percent females belonged to the obese category. It was seen that majority of overweight (65 percent) and obese (73.33 percent) adolescents lead a physically inactive lifestyle. None of the overweight and obese adolescents were involved in physical activity for more than an hour. The observation was significant (p=0.000). Most of the overweight and obese adolescents had appropriate diet. However, 11 of the overweight and 27 among adolescents consumed calories more than the requirement. This observation was found to be significant (p=0.000). Out of 149 adolescents consuming fast food, 59 were overweight and 51 were obese. This observation was found to be significant (P=0.015).Conclusions: The prevalence of overweight was 32 percent in boys and 34 percent in girls and the prevalence obesity was 33 percent in boys and 32 percent in the girls. There was no significant difference in overweight and obesity between boys and girls. Hours of physical activity, diet, consumption of fast food had a significant association with B.M.I. It was, therefore, concluded that reduced physical activity for less than 1 hour for less than 3 days a week, increased caloric intake and increased consumption of fast food have a significant association with BMI.