Prevalence of obesity among primary school male children aged 10-12years in Gandhinagar city

Background: Obesity is a multi-factorial disease that develops from the interaction between genotype and the environment. It is a major public health problem resulting in serious social, physical and psychological damage. The prevalence of obesity and overweight among children is rising to alarming levels in developed and developing countries including Gandhinagar city. Objectives: 1) To assess obesity among primary school male children aged 10- 12 years in Gujarat, gandhinagar city. 2) To recognize different sociodemographic data in obese and non obese children. 3) To assess feeding, feeding habits and physical activity as risk factors ofobesity of the study population. 4) To verify relations between BMI and the studied parameters. Sample size: It comprises all male obese children (n=100 and BMI ≥ 23kg/m2) from different classes of the primary schools in the Gandhinagar City. A total of 100 normal weight control male children (BMI=15-20kg/m2) are selected from the same classes. Controls and cases were matched in age and socioeconomic conditions. Universe: All Primary School Male Children Aged 10-12 Years in Gandhinagar city. Materials and Methods: This case control study comprised 96 obese children (BMI ≥23 kg/m2) and 96 non-obese children (BMI 15-20 kg/m2).Controls and cases were matched in age and socioeconomic conditions. Questionnaire interview was applied. BMI for children was calculated by a computer graphs program specially design to this purpose. Sex, age (years and months), height (in maters) and weight (in kilograms) were introduce into the program. Then by one click on calculate button, the BMI was automatically calculated. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 18.0. Results: The prevalence of obesity among primary school male children aged 10-12 years in Gandhinagar city was 4.3%. Average body mass index of obese children (cases) was 25.8±2.7 whereas that of control children was 17.4±1.0. Family history, eating >3 meals/day, eating while watching television and lack of physical activity in terms of doing exercise and playing football were foundto of be factors that affect the obesity among the children.