Prevalence of Obesity in Elementary Schools in Mardin, South-Eastern of Turkey: A Preliminary Study

Abstract

Objective: This research determines the frequency of obesity among primary school-aged children and evaluates the relationship between obesity and family and environmental factors. Material and Methods: Three thousand four hundred sixty students, aged 6-15 years in three primary schools in Mardin city center were taken into the study. Information about eating habits and family-environmental factors were obtained by questionnaire. For each student we calculated the body mass index (BMI) and the ≥97 percentile was defined as obese, and between 85-97th percentile as overweight. These values were calculated with the SPSS statistical program. Chi-square and t-tests were used for analysis. p<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: 48.2% of the students were female. In the assessment of body mass index (BMI) the overweight rate for children was 15.78%, the obese rate was 10.57%. The prevalence of obesity according to gender was 9.05% for girls and 11.97% for boys (p<0.01). The mean BMI of the girls in the age group 13-15 is higher than in males of the same age. Those in the higher socio-economic group had a higher prevalence of obesity (p<0.01). Paternal obesity affected child obesity (p<0.01). Children who eat irregular meals (p=0.05), watch more than 2 hours per day TV (p=0.03), were breastfed for less than 6 months (p<0.05) and the mothers' obesity (p<0.05) were found to have a significantly higher prevalence of obesity. Conclusion: Obesity is increasing throughout the world as a health problem. Being obese in childhood and having obese parent(s) are two of the risk factors of being obese in adulthood. Persistence of obesity into adulthood is the most serious aspect of the problem. The therapeutic success rate in obesity is unfortunately not high. Therefore, a preventive strategy involving early identification of those at risk by incorporating body mass assessments to routine childhood growth assessment appears to be the most prudent strategy. Turkish Başlık: Mardin İli İlköğretim Öğrencileri Arasındaki Obezite Prevelansı Amaç: Bu araştırmada, Mardin ilindeki ilköğretim çağı çocukları arasında obezite sıklığı, obezite ile aile ve çevre faktörleri arasındaki ilişki değerlendirildi. Materyal ve Metot: Çalışmada Mardin il merkezindeki, üç ilköğretim okulunda 6-15 yaş grubundaki, 3460 çocuğun boy ve ağırlık ölçümleri yapıldı. Beslenme alışkanlıkları ve aile-çevre faktörlerine ait bilgiler anket yolu ile elde edildi. Her öğrenci için vücut kitle indeksi (BMI) hesaplandı. Dünya Sağlık Örgütü (WHO) tarafından çocuk ve adolesanlarda fazla kilolu olma ve obezitenin sınıflandırılmasında kullanılması önerilen ve 2007 yılında yayınlanan 5-19 yaş grubu çocuklar ve adolesanlar için büyüme referans değerleri baz alınarak hesaplandı. Söz konusu referans değerlerine göre vücut kitle indeksi (BMI)değeri 97. persentil üzerinde olan çocuklar obez; BMI değeri 85-97. persentil arasında olanlarda fazla kilolu olarak tanımlandı. Veriler bilgisayarda SPSS istatistik programı ile değerlendirildi. Analizler için ki-kare ve t-testleri kullanıldı. P<0.05 istatistiksel olarak anlamlı kabul edildi. Bulgular: Öğrencilerin % 48.2'si kız idi. Fazla ağırlığı (overweight) olan çocuk %15.78, obez olan çocuk oranı %10.57 idi. Cinsiyete göre obezite sıklığı kız çocuklar için %9.05 ve erkek çocuklar için %11.97 idi. Erkeklerde obezite sıklığı anlamlı derecede daha yüksekti (p<0.01). 13 -15 yaş grubundaki kızların BMI ortalamaları, aynı yaş grubundaki erkeklere göre anlamlı derecede yüksekti. Sosyoekonomik düzeyi yüksek olanlarda (p<0.01), düzensiz öğün yiyenlerde (p=0.05) , günde 2 saatten fazla TV seyredenlerde (p=0.03), 6 aydan az anne sütü alanlarda (p<0,05), annesi (p<0.05) veya babası (p<0.01) obez olanlarda obezite sıklığı anlamlı derecede daha yüksek bulundu. Sonuç: Obezite bir sağlık sorunu olarak dünya çapında artmaktadır. Çocukluk çağında obez olmak ve obez ebeveyn/(ebeveynlere) sahip olmak, erişkinlikte obez olmanın risk faktörlerinden ikisidir. Yetişkinlikte, obezitenin kalıcılığı, sorunun en ciddi yönüdür. Obezitede tedavi başarı oranı, ne yazık ki yüksek değildir. Bu nedenle, rutin çocukluk çağı büyüme değerlendirilmesi için, vücut kitle indeksinin eklenerek, risk altında olanların erken tespiti ile ilgili bir önleyici strateji en akılcı yol olarak görünmektedir.

Keywords

• Childhood obesity, prevalence, body mass index, Mardin, Turkey

Mardin İli İlköğretim Öğrencileri Arasındaki Obezite Prevelansı

Abstract

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