title: Overweight and its associated risk factors among urban school adolescents in Nepal: a cross-sectional study.
abstract: The prevalence of non-communicable diseases is increasing in Nepal. Overweight and obesity are the major risk factors of many non-communicable diseases. Adolescence is a critical phase for development of overweight and obesity. Risk factors associated with overweight and obesity are not well understood in Nepal. The objective of the study was to identify the factors associated with overweight and obesity among adolescent students.
  
  
  
  A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out on higher secondary school students in the Lalitpur sub-metropolitan city, Nepal.
  
  
  
  A random sample of 360 students aged 16-19 years from eight schools was included in the study.
  
  
  
  The prevalence of overweight among adolescent students was 12.2% (95% CI 8.9 to 15.5). Factors associated with being overweight included being male (adjusted OR (AOR) 2.64, 95% CI 1.18 to 4.88), studying in private school (AOR 2.10, 95% CI 1.03 to 4.28), high socioeconomic status family (AOR 4.77, 95% CI 1.36 to 16.72), watching television for more than 2 h per day (AOR 8.86, 95% CI 3.90 to 20.11), and consuming fruit four times or less per week (AOR 3.13, 95% CI 1.39 to 7.01). There was no statistically significant association between adolescent overweight and age, ethnicity, mother's education level, mother's occupation, number of siblings or family type.
  
  
  
  Socioeconomic status, watching television for a longer time and consuming less fruit are major risk factors for overweight among adolescents in Nepal. Interventions are needed to increase awareness about the risk factors of adolescent overweight and obesity to decrease prevalence of overweight-associated non-communicable diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine and Public Health, Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal.
authors.forename: Suneel
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2639-6018
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Piryani
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health Sciences, Patan Academy of Health Sciences, Lalitpur, Nepal.
authors.forename: Kedar Prasad
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Baral
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine and Public Health, Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal.
authors.forename: Bandana
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pradhan
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine and Public Health, Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal.
authors.forename: Amod Kumar
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Poudyal
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Chitwan Medical College, Bharatpur, Chitwan, Nepal.
authors.forename: Rano Mal
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2574-7226
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Piryani
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet; D005260:Female; D005638:Fruit; D006801:Humans; D007899:Leisure Activities; D008297:Male; D009390:Nepal / Q000453:epidemiology; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012574:Schools / Q000145:classification; D057566:Self Report; D012737:Sex Factors; D012923:Social Class; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013690:Television; D013997:Time Factors; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: EPIDEMIOLOGY; NUTRITION & DIETETICS; PAEDIATRICS; PUBLIC HEALTH