Prevalence of obesity among school children in Neishabour (2005)

¯Abstract Background: At present, the prevalence of obesity among children and youngsters is rapidly increasing in developed countries. Few studies have been carried out on childhood obesity in Iran using standard references. Objective: Assessing the prevalence of obesity among school children in Neishabour using several references including Iranian reference, CDC 2000 and IOTF 2000. Methods: In a cross-sectional trial, 1471 students aged 6-12 were selected by a two-stage cluster sampling. Height and weight of students were measured and BMI was calculated. Obesity was defined as having a BMI≥95th percentile of Iranian reference or CDC. Also, the students with BMI greater than IOTF values were identified as obese. Findings: The prevalence of obesity according to the Iranian reference, CDC and IOTF were 8.5% (CI 95%, 7.1-10.0%), 4.6% (CI 95%, 3.5-6.0%), and 7.3% (CI 95%, 6.0-9.0%), respectively. Using CDC reference, a significant difference in prevalence of obesity between girls and boys (5.8% vs. 3.1%) was found (p<0.05). When the Iranian reference was applied, the prevalence of obesity was shown to be significantly higher in boys aged 7 and 8 compared to girls (15.2% vs. 6.4% and 12.5% vs. 4.0%), respectively (p<0.05). Finally, the application of IOTF reference produced no significant difference in prevalence of obesity between girls and boys. Conclusion: As the results of different references in determining the prevalence of obesity were not the same, use of relevant BMI percentile is recommended.