Frequency of Overweight and Obesity and its Associated Factors Amongst School Children in Lahore Pakistan

Abstract

Introduction: Childhood obesity has growing prevalence globally and several grievous health outcomes are associated with it. Present study will help us compute the growing trend of obesity in Pakistan among school children and compare it to the rest of the world.

Aims & Objectives: The objectives of the present study were to determine the frequency of obesity and the factors associated with it amongst children

Place and duration of study: The study was conducted from 2018 to 2019 at different public and private sector schools of Lahore.

Material & Methods: 443 children (6-16 years of age) both male and female were recruited for a cross-sectional study using simple convenient sampling from 10 public and private sector schools of Lahore. Parental consent was taken; moreover, assent was taken from the students. Data was collected on a self-constructed Proforma. Height, weight & BMI were recorded. Subjects were categorized as obese, non-obese and overweight “t” test, one way ANOVA and Chi square tests were applied for comparison of variables in study groups. SPSS version 24 was used for statistical analysis of the data. P-Value < 0.05 was taken as significant.

Results: Our study participants had mean age of 13±0.11 years, of which 33% (males) and 67% (females). Among participants 20% had excess weight (i.e., 9% obese and 11% were overweight). Children from the age group 12-16 years were significantly obese (63%) compared to 6-11 years (37%). There was significant (p<0.05) relationship of obesity and overweight with junk food, maternal occupation, lifestyle, socio-economic status, screen time, sleeping hours and family history of obesity (FHO). Obesity has no association with parent's education and educational sector.

Conclusion: 20% among school children were overweight/ obese. Preventive focus should be on children (12-16 years age) who have family history of obesity, screen time >5 hrs and sedentary lifestyle.