title: [Prevalence of obesity and overweight among children in primary schools in Marrakech, Morocco].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Childhood obesity is a phenomenon of growing concern today because of its rapid growth worldwide. The aim of our study was to estimate the prevalence of overweight and obesity among school age children in Marrakech.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a cross-sectional study of a random sample of 1418 schoolchildren aged 8-15 years in the public sector in Marrakech in May 2011. Trained physicians measured the weight and size of respondents. The body mass index (BMI) was calculated for each child. Overweight was assessed by comparing BMI with World Health Organization (WHO) and International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) references. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 16.0 and using a macro of WHO Anthro for SPSS.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age was 10.8 ± 1.6 years. The sex ratio (girl/boy) was 1. The prevalence of overweight and obesity were 8 % (95 % CI [6.7, 9.6]) and 3 % (95 % CI [2.2, 4.1] based on WHO reference. This prevalence were respectively 12.2 % (95 % IC [10.5; 14.0]) and 5.4 % (95 % IC [4.3; 6.7]) using the IOTF reference.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In the absence of national data, our results reflect the importance of the phenomenon in our context, hence the importance of monitoring the nutritional status on both individual and collective levels and the need to develop strategies for prevention, diagnosis and early treatment before the problem becomes more widespread.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'épidémiologie, laboratoire de recherche PCIM, département de santé publique et médecine communautaire, faculté de médecine et de pharmacie, université Cadi Ayyad, CHU Mohammed VI de Marrakech, BP 7010 Sidi Abbad, Marrakech, Maroc. Electronic address: dr.sebbani@gmail.com.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sebbani
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Elbouchti
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Adarmouch
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Amine
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001827:Body Height; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009018:Morocco / Q000453:epidemiology; D009752:Nutritional Status; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology*; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012574:Schools / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
keywords: Maroc; Morocco; Obesity; Obésité; Overweight; Prevalence; Prévalence; Surpoids