Epidemiological Study on Overweight and Obesity among Adolescent Boys and Girls
Pirzado Zahid Ali, Tahir Mukhtar Sayed, Mahwish Akhtar Qureshi, Huma Tahir, Gul Muhammad Shaikh, Muhammad Imran
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ABSTRACT
Background and Aim: Overweight and obesity has a great impact on individual health and
quality of life. Most of the psychosocial and physical health problems are considerably
related with overweight and obesity in adolescents. The incidence of overweight
and obesity accelerated in the developing world over the last decade. The
present study aims to evaluate the prevalence of overweight and obesity among
Pakistani adolescents.
Methodology: This epidemiological study was conducted on 1764 Pakistani adolescents attending
multi medical centers of Pakistan with an age ranges from 12 years to 19
years. The socio-demographic questionnaire was completed by each
individual with a consent form. Demographic and anthropometric parameters were
included in the questionnaire. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was
determined based on body mass index calculation. Obesity and associated factors
were analyzed through analysis of Univariate and multivariate logistic
regression.
Results: Out of
total adolescents, 885 (50.2%) were male and 879 (49.8%) were females. The
prevalence of overweight and obesity was 14.1% (male 18.5%; female 11.4%) and
5.4% (male 8.3%; female 4.4%) respectively. Boys were prevalent in overweight
and obesity compared to girls (p<0.001).
Using Multivariate logistic regression, male gender (OR=1.89, 95% CI
1.37-2.56), eating fruits 3 or more times per week (OR=1.39, 95% CI 1.03-1.79),
and fast eating (OR=1.29, 95% CI 1.03-1.68) were considerably related to the
overweight and obesity. Adolescents whose parents were overweight or obese
(0.69, 95% CI 0.49-0.93) were improbable to be overweight or obese.
Conclusion: Our study found a higher risk and prevalence of overweight and obesity
among adolescent boys compared to adolescent girls in the recent few years.
Gender, parental weight, and diet were key parameters for adolescents' obesity.
There is a need for further intervention and national program establishment to
decrease the incidence of overweight and obesity.
Keywords: Overweight; Obesity; Adolescents