title: Prevalence of overweight and obesity among school children in suburb Thailand defined by the International Obesity Task Force Standard. [corrected].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Overweight and obesity is an emerging problem among children worldwide. Body mass index (BMI) is widely used to define overweight and obesity as it correlates well with high accuracy to measure body fatness.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Aim of the present study is to determine the prevalence of obesity in Thai school children by using the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) standard.
  
  
  METHODS
  The school based cross-sectional study was conducted in 1,140 children aged 6-15 years in Ongkharak, Thailand. Anthropometric measurements including weight and height were obtained to determine BMI. The results were analyzed statistically by applying student t-test, and Chi-square test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of overweight and obesity among school children in suburb Thailand was 12.8% and 9.4%, respectively. There were no significant differences in prevalence of overweight and obesity between gender splits and between age specific groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of overweight and obesity has been dramatically increasing among Thai children. Further long-term follow-up studies are required to determine the growth pattern of children with higher BMI for age and to survey for obesity-related co-morbid condition in Thai children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok, Thailand. sanguansak_r@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Sanguansak
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rerksuppaphol
authors.forename: Lakkana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rerksuppaphol
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D026683:Advisory Committees; D017677:Age Distribution; D001823:Body Composition / Q000502:physiology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012015:Reference Standards; D012016:Reference Values; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013785:Thailand / Q000453:epidemiology