Nutritional habits and obesity: Primary school students in Sinop, the northernmost point of Turkey

Abstract

The conditions in which energy intake is more than energy consumption and the clinical conditions which arise with the increase in fat tissue is generally called obesity. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines obesity as the abnormal or excessive accu- mulation of fat in the body such that it endangers health. A combination of environmental and genetic factors rather than an organic illness underlie most cases of pediatric obesity. The aim of this research is to examine the nutritional habits and obesity conditions of primary school students. This descriptive study was carried out on all students in primary schools affiliated to the Sinop Provincial Directorate of National Education, from May 10th, 2010 to May 10th, 2011, after gathering all necessary permissions. The research com- prises 3352 students who agreed to take part in the research; there was no sub-selection within the sample. After examining the percentile assessment of the participating chil- dren, the following categorization has been made: 7% (under five) underweight, 78.4% (between 5-85) normal, 8.7% (between 85-95) overweight and 6% (95 and over) obese. Examining the children’s BMI according to gender found that 9.6% of boys and 7.6% of girls were overweight, and 7.6% of the boys and 4.3% of the girls were obese, a higher rate of excessive weight in boys than in girls. As a result, it is suggested that nurses should continue an effective counseling service to enable children’s sufficient and balanced nu- trition, that they cooperate with the families while carrying out this service, and consider social factors that increase tendencies to obesity. It is also suggested that further research should be done on the relationship of parents and children.

Keywords

• Adolescence
• Body mass index
• Child
• Obesity
• Primary schools

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