A Systematic Review on the Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity, in Iranian Children and Adolescents.
BACKGROUND
Obesity has now become a common health problem worldwide. To gain insight into the epidemiology of the problem in Iran, we systematically reviewed all available studies on the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the Iranian pediatric population.


METHODS
We systematically searched PubMed, ISI, SCOPUS, as well as Iranmedex, Irandoc, and Scientific Information Database (SID) databases.All studies on mean and standard deviation or percentile categories of BMI, WC, WHR, or WHtR or prevalence of obesity/overweight in Iranian child and adolescence, were performed from January 1990 to the end of December 2013. Refining processes were conducted by two independent reviewers. Quality assessment and data extraction followed based on validated form. As, these data were heterogeneous, meta-analysis was not performed.


RESULTS
From 3253 records, through three refining steps, 129 articles were found related to our study. In Iran, national studies are limited and nearly there is no comprehensive study for sub-national trends. Different age and sex groups had large variations in the prevalence of obesity and overweight (from 1% up to 16.1% and from 4.4% up to 42.3% respectively for obesity and overweight).


CONCLUSIONS
Related data are very scattered or limited to some specific subgroups in some living areas. For comparing, aggregating, and imputing the information we need more modern practical statistical methods.
Non-Communicable Diseases Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran; Development of Research and Technology Center, Deputy of Research and Technology, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, IR Iran.
Shirin
S
Djalalinia
Child Growth and Development Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, IR Iran.
Roya
R
Kelishadi
Department of Community Medicine, School of Medicine, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, IR Iran.
Mostafa
M
Qorbani
Non-Communicable Diseases Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran; Development of Research and Technology Center, Deputy of Research and Technology, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, IR Iran.
Niloofar
N
Peykari
Non-Communicable Diseases Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
Amir
A
Kasaeian
Diabetes Researcher Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Clinical Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
Ensieh
E
Nasli-Esfahani
Non-Communicable Diseases Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
Shohreh
S
Naderimagham
Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
Bagher
B
Larijani
Non-Communicable Diseases Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran; Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
Farshad
F
Farzadfar
Obesity; Overweight; Pediatrics; Systematic Review