Prevalence of overweight and obesity in students in city center vocational high school in Turkey

Abstract

Background: This study was performed in order to determine the prevalence of obesity and the affecting factors in male boarding high school students within the age group of 14-19 in Mus city center, Turkey. Methods: The study is cross-sectional and was conducted between May and June 2014. Students in a male boarding high school in Mus were surveyed. No samples were selected in the study. All the students in the high school were surveyed. A total of 337 students were accessed. Researchers went into the classrooms and measured students’ height and weight. Results: Among those who participated to the study 69.4% was normal weight, 8.0% was overweight and 3.0% was obese. It was determined that those who ate less than three meals daily, those who lived biggest part of their lives in the urban areas, students with no sports activity were overweight/obese (p<0.05). Those who predominantly ate fries in their meals had a risk factor to be overweight/obese (OR = 2.28, CI = 1.08-4.84). Conclusions: The overweight percentage of the students’ was determined to be high. This situation implies that obesity might emerge as a health problem in these age groups in the future.