Abstract
The present study examines the secular trends in prevalence of overweight and obesity among urban Asian Indian adolescents in New Delhi (North India). The data were derived from cross-sectional sampling of children, 3493 in year 2006 and 4908 in year 2009, aged 14–17 years studying in privately-funded and government-funded schools. Age, gender and Asian Indian-specific cut offs of body mass index (BMI) were used to define overweight and obesity. The prevalence of obesity increased significantly from 9.8% in 2006 to 11.7% in 2009 (p<0.01), whereas underweight decreased from 11.3% to 3.9% (p<0.001). There was a significantly higher risk of being overweight (OR 1.28; 95% CI, 1.15–1.42) and obese (OR 1.44; 95% CI, 1.24–1.66) in year 2009 than 2006, after adjusting for age, gender and type of school. Males and privately-funded school children had significantly higher increase in prevalence and risk of being overweight and obese over the three years. In conclusion, this study showed an increasing trend in prevalence of overweight and obesity in urban Asian Indian adolescents. More specifically, the study showed the association of this increasing trend of overweight and obesity prevalence with male gender and high socio-economic status, calling for an urgent need for immediate and targeted preventive measures.
Highlights
The epidemic of childhood obesity is a substantial health burden worldwide [1,2,3] and its impact is being observed in developing countries as well [4,5]
Obesity is associated with multiple co-morbidities such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, polycystic ovarian disease, hypertension, and the metabolic syndrome, which are increasingly becoming common among children and urban adolescents [2,4,11,12,13]
The aim of our study was to determine the secular trends in health status of urban Asian Indian adolescents (14–17 years age) and see if a trend similar to developed countries exists in India
Summary
The epidemic of childhood obesity is a substantial health burden worldwide [1,2,3] and its impact is being observed in developing countries as well [4,5]. Recent studies from western populations have shown a plateau in the prevalence of both adult and childhood obesity during the last decade [6,7,8]. The problem is of a larger magnitude in developing countries like India where a significant proportion of the population belongs to younger age group [9]. Rising prevalence of obesity in India may be attributed to various factors, like sedentary life-style, unhealthy food habits, cultural practices and increasing affluence of middle class population [10,11,12,13]. Childhood obesity has been associated with higher risk of morbidity and mortality in adult life [14]
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