Prevalence of overweight and obesity in Indian adolescent school going children: its relationship with socioeconomic status and associated lifestyle factors.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES Obesity and overweight have become a worldwide epidemic, and there is an urgent need to examine childhood obesity and overweight across countries using a standardized international standard. In the present study we have investigated the prevalence of obesity and overweight and their association with socioeconomic status (SES) and the risk factors like diet, physical activity like exercise, sports, sleeping habit in afternoon, eating habits like junk food, chocolate, eating outside at weekend, family history of diabetes and obesity. MATERIAL AND METHODS The study was carried out in 5664 school children of 12-18 years of age and having different SES. The obesity and overweight were considered using an updated body mass index reference. SES and life style factors were determined using pre-tested questionnaire. RESULTS Age-adjusted prevalence of overweight was found to be 14.3% among boys and 9.2% among girls where as the prevalence of obesity was 2.9% in boys and 1.5% in girls. The prevalence of overweight among children was higher in middle SES as compared to high SES group in both boys and girls whereas the prevalence of obesity was higher in high SES group as compared to middle SES group. The prevalence of obesity as well as overweight in low SES group was the lowest as compared to other group. Eating habit like junk food, chocolate, eating outside at weekend and physical activity like exercise, sports, sleeping habit in afternoon having remarkable effect on prevalence on overweight and obesity among middle to high SES group. Family history of diabetes and obesity were also found to be positively associated. CONCLUSION Our data suggest that the prevalence of overweight and obesity varies remarkably with different socioeconomic development levels.

[1]  G. Colditz,et al.  Activity, Dietary Intake, and Weight Changes in a Longitudinal Study of Preadolescent and Adolescent Boys and Girls , 2000, Pediatrics.

[2]  E. Frongillo,et al.  Overweight schoolchildren in New York State: prevalence and characteristics. , 1994, American journal of public health.

[3]  B. Popkin,et al.  Adolescent obesity increases significantly in second and third generation U.S. immigrants: the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. , 1998, The Journal of nutrition.

[4]  W. Dietz.  Health consequences of obesity in youth: childhood predictors of adult disease. , 1998, Pediatrics.

[5]  T. Byers,et al.  Do obese children become obese adults? A review of the literature. , 1993, Preventive medicine.

[6]  P. Chatterjee.  India sees parallel rise in malnutrition and obesity , 2002, The Lancet.

[7]  R. Pérez‐Escamilla,et al.  Biobehavioral factors are associated with obesity in Puerto Rican children. , 2000, The Journal of nutrition.

[8]  C. Summerbell,et al.  Childhood predictors of adult obesity: a systematic review. , 1999, International journal of obesity and related metabolic disorders : journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity.

[9]  J. Sobal.  Obesity and socioeconomic status: a framework for examining relationships between physical and social variables. , 1991, Medical anthropology.

[10]  M. Guillaume.  Defining obesity in childhood: current practice2. , 1999, The American journal of clinical nutrition.

[11]  H. Kraemer,et al.  Effects of Life‐Style on Body Mass Index Change , 1994, Epidemiology.

[12]  T. Lohman,et al.  Changes in the Body Composition of Children , 1987 .

[13]  J. Martínez,et al.  Distribution and determinants of sedentary lifestyles in the European Union. , 2003, International journal of epidemiology.

[14]  J. Sobal.  Social and economic consequences of overweight in adolescence. , 1994, The New England journal of medicine.

[15]  G. Colditz,et al.  Association of obesity with physical activity, television programs and other forms of video viewing among children in Mexico City , 1999, International Journal of Obesity.

[16]  W. Tamborlane,et al.  Prevalence of impaired glucose tolerance among children and adolescents with marked obesity. , 2002, The New England journal of medicine.

[17]  F. Pi‐Sunyer,et al.  Health implications of obesity. , 1991, The American journal of clinical nutrition.

[18]  G A Colditz,et al.  Assessing diets of children and adolescents. , 1997, The American journal of clinical nutrition.

[19]  Youfa Wang,et al.  A comparison of international references for the assessment of child and adolescent overweight and obesity in different populations† , 2002, European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

[20]  W. Chumlea,et al.  Tracking of body mass index in children in relation to overweight in adulthood. , 1999, The American journal of clinical nutrition.

[21]  T. Sørensen,et al.  Obesity and socioeconomic status--a complex relation. , 1993, The New England journal of medicine.

[22]  A. Stunkard,et al.  Socioeconomic status and obesity: a review of the literature. , 1989, Psychological bulletin.

[23]  L. Epstein,et al.  Decreasing sedentary behaviors in treating pediatric obesity. , 2000, Archives of pediatrics & adolescent medicine.

[24]  B. Rolls,et al.  Satiety after preloads with different amounts of fat and carbohydrate: implications for obesity. , 1994, The American journal of clinical nutrition.

[25]  I. Buchan,et al.  Prevalence of overweight and obese children between 1989 and 1998: population based series of cross sectional studies , 2001, BMJ : British Medical Journal.

[26]  S. Qamra,et al.  A mixed-longitudinal study on the pattern of pubertal growth: relationship to socioeconomic status and caloric-intake--IV. , 1991, Indian pediatrics.

[27]  R. Klesges,et al.  A longitudinal analysis of accelerated weight gain in preschool children. , 1995, Pediatrics.

[28]  H. King,et al.  Glucose tolerance in Papua New Guinea: ethnic differences, association with environmental and behavioural factors and the possible emergence of glucose intolerance in a highland community , 1989, The Medical journal of Australia.

[29]  C. Roberts,et al.  Sedentary behaviour, physical activity and weight problems in adolescents in Wales. , 2005, Public health.

[30]  Endy,et al.  Association between multiple cardiovascular risk factors and atherosclerosis in children and young adults , 2000 .

[31]  A. Fagot-Campagna.  Emergence of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Children: Epidemiological Evidence , 2000, Journal of pediatric endocrinology & metabolism : JPEM.

[32]  B. Popkin,et al.  Trends of obesity and underweight in older children and adolescents in the United States, Brazil, China, and Russia. , 2002, The American journal of clinical nutrition.

[33]  J. Chhatwal,et al.  Obesity and hypertension in children. , 1994, Indian pediatrics.

[34]  N. Agha,et al.  Factors associated with obesity in Kuwaiti children , 2004, European Journal of Epidemiology.

[35]  M S Tremblay,et al.  Is the Canadian childhood obesity epidemic related to physical inactivity? , 2003, International Journal of Obesity.

[36]  A. Stunkard,et al.  SOCIAL FACTORS IN OBESITY. , 1965, JAMA.

[37]  M. Pratt,et al.  Relationship of physical activity and television watching with body weight and level of fatness among children: results from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. , 1998, JAMA.

[38]  D. Cooper,et al.  Evidence for and mechanisms of exercise modulation of growth--an overview. , 1994, Medicine and science in sports and exercise.

[39]  A. Musaiger,et al.  Obesity Among Secondary School Students in Bahrain , 1993, Nutrition and health.

[40]  C. Snehalatha,et al.  Rising prevalence of NIDDM in an urban population in India , 1997, Diabetologia.

[41]  G. Berglund,et al.  Sociodemographic factors associated with long-term weight gain, current body fatness and central adiposity in Swedish women , 2000, International Journal of Obesity.

[42]  M. Guillaume.  Defining obesity in childhood: current practice. , 1999, The American journal of clinical nutrition.

[43]  Sanjay Kinra,et al.  Deprivation and childhood obesity: a cross sectional study of 20 973 children in Plymouth, United Kingdom , 2000, Journal of epidemiology and community health.

[44]  Katherine M Flegal,et al.  Prevalence and trends in overweight among US children and adolescents, 1999-2000. , 2002, JAMA.

[45]  I. Darnton-Hill,et al.  A global response to a global problem: the epidemic of overnutrition. , 2002, Bulletin of the World Health Organization.

[46]  W H Dietz,et al.  Inactivity, diet, and the fattening of America. , 1990, Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

[47]  K. Widhalm,et al.  New insights into the field of children and adolescents’ obesity: the European perspective , 2004, International Journal of Obesity.

[48]  A. Must,et al.  Risks and consequences of childhood and adolescent obesity , 1999, International Journal of Obesity.

[49]  P. Deurenberg,et al.  Body mass index and percent body fat: a meta analysis among different ethnic groups , 1998, International Journal of Obesity.

[50]  R. Troiano,et al.  Overweight prevalence among youth in the United States: Why so many different numbers? , 1999, International Journal of Obesity.

[51]  L. Mo-Suwan,et al.  Increasing obesity in school children in a transitional society and the effect of the weight control program. , 1993, The Southeast Asian journal of tropical medicine and public health.

[52]  K. Flegal,et al.  Overweight prevalence and trends for children and adolescents. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, 1963 to 1991. , 1995, Archives of pediatrics & adolescent medicine.

[53]  B. Mensch,et al.  Transitions to adulthood: a national survey of Egyptian adolescents. , 1999 .

[54]  T N Robinson,et al.  Reducing children's television viewing to prevent obesity: a randomized controlled trial. , 1999, JAMA.

[55]  H. King,et al.  Global Burden of Diabetes, 1995–2025: Prevalence, numerical estimates, and projections , 1998, Diabetes Care.

[56]  Claude Bouchard,et al.  Handbook of obesity , 1997 .

[57]  S. Poppitt.  Energy density of diets and obesity. , 1995, International journal of obesity and related metabolic disorders : journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity.

[58]  J. Sundquist,et al.  The influence of socioeconomic status, ethnicity and lifestyle on body mass index in a longitudinal study. , 1998, International journal of epidemiology.

[59]  N. K. Anand,et al.  Prevalence of hypertension in schoolgoing children. , 1996, Indian Pediatrics.

[60]  L. Birch,et al.  Development of eating behaviors among children and adolescents. , 1998, Pediatrics.

[61]  J. Harrell,et al.  The influence of physical activity, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity on the weight status of adolescents. , 2000, Obesity research.

[62]  Setting Brazil.  Establishing a standard definition for child overweight and obesity worldwide: international survey. , 2008 .

[63]  S. T. Callahan,et al.  Type 2 diabetes mellitus in adolescents. , 2000, Current opinion in pediatrics.

[64]  Ambady Ramachandran,et al.  Prevalence of overweight in urban Indian adolescent school children. , 2002, Diabetes research and clinical practice.

[65]  C. Shear,et al.  Secular trends of obesity in early life: the Bogalusa Heart Study. , 1988, American journal of public health.

[66]  L. Baur.  Child and adolescent obesity in the 21st century: an Australian perspective. , 2002, Asia Pacific journal of clinical nutrition.

[67]  J. Blundell,et al.  Dietary fat and the control of energy intake: evaluating the effects of fat on meal size and postmeal satiety. , 1993, The American journal of clinical nutrition.

[68]  S. Chinn,et al.  Prevalence and trends in overweight and obesity in three cross sectional studies of British children, 1974-94 , 2001, BMJ : British Medical Journal.

[69]  M. Booth,et al.  Change in the prevalence of overweight and obesity among young Australians, 1969-1997. , 2003, The American journal of clinical nutrition.

[70]  T. Cole,et al.  Review: Measurement and long-term health risks of child and adolescent fatness , 1997, International Journal of Obesity.