title: Prevalence of overweight and obesity and associated risk factors in urban primary-school children in Babol, Islamic Republic of Iran.
abstract: Childhood obesity is a major public health problem globally because of changes in lifestyles. We assessed the prevalence of overweight/obesity and associated factors in urban schoolchildren in Babol in a cross-sectional study of 1000 schoolchildren aged 7-12 years. Weight and height were measured and data on sports activities and leisure time physical activities were collected by questionnaire. Overweight/obesity were assessed by comparing body mass index (BMI) values to the BMI index for age and sex percentiles set by CDC, Atlanta. The prevalence of obesity and overweight was 5-8% and 12.3% respectively. The prevalence was significantly lower in girls compared with boys (age-adjusted OR = 0.69, 95% Cl: 0.50-0.96) and higher among private-school educated children compared with public-school educated students (age adjusted OR = 2.17, 95% Cl: 1.47-3.18). For each additional score of leisure time physical activity, the age-adjusted OR decreased significantly.
authors: Department of Social Medicine and Health, Babol Faculty of Medicine, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Islamic Republic of Iran. drhajian@yahoo.com
authors: K O
authors: KO
authors: Hajian-Tilaki
authors: P
authors: P
authors: Sajjadi
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Razavi
mesh_terms: D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012574:Schools; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data