Prevalence of overweight and obesity and its associated risk factors among primary public school students (10-14) years old in Arkaweet-Khartoum-Sudan

<p>Huda Abbass Alhadi</p>

Prevalence of overweight and obesity and its associated risk factors among primary public school students (10-14) years old in Arkaweet-Khartoum-Sudan

Huda Abbass Alhadi

Islamic Azad University, Iran

: J Food Nutr Disor

Abstract

Background: Childhood obesity is one of the most serious health challenges of the 21st century. The problem is global and the prevalence is increasing at an alarming rate.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence and associated risk factors of overweight and obesity among primary public school children(10-14) years old in Arkaweet-Khartoum-Sudan.

Materials and methods: A descriptive cross sectional school based study was conducted among primary schools student's males and females in arkaweet, Khartoum, Sudan. Simple random sampling was used. The data was collected through a self administered questionnaire. Height and weight of the subjects were measured and body mass index (BMI) was calculated using growth charts of center of disease and control (CDC).

Results: A total of 161 children between ages of 10 and 14 were involved in the study. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 34% and 4.97% respectively. Females had a higher prevalence of overweight 38.3% when compared to males 30%. Obesity also was highly prevalent in females (7.4%) than in males (2.4 %.) the majority of subjects studied healthy-weight (50.9%). The mean weight is 48.1, mean height is 141.2. There was significance association between educational level of father(p value=0.000), educational level of mother (p value=0.000), job of mother (p value=0.046), physical activities (p value=0.034), watching TV (p value=0.04) and playing video games (p value=0.000) for long hours per day, number of daily meals (p value=0.002), type of food, fast food (p value=0.032) and soft drinks consumption (p value=0.000) and family size (p value =0.003). There was obvious psychological impact among overweight and obese students as they suffer a lot from their classmate bulling.

Conclusion: The results of the current study provide alarming evidence based data on the considerable prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity among primary public school students in Arkaweet-Khartoum-Sudan.