Overweight and Obesity among the Adolescent School Students in Belgaum City

INTRODUCTION: The World Health Organization defines obesity as a 'global epidemic'. An overweight adolescent has a 70% chance of becoming obese. Overweight and obese adolescents are at higher risk for developing long-term chronic diseases. So the present study objective is to estimate the prevalence of overweight and obesity among adolescent school students METHODS: A sample size of 300 adolescent students was taken to do a cross-sectional study. Body weight and height were recorded and body mass index was categorized based on age-and sex-specific cut-off values as per International Obesity Task Force reference growth charts. Proportions of obese, overweight and underweight children were calculated and subjected to chi-square and logistic regression tests at the p < 0.05 significance level. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of overweight and obesity in the present study were 12% and 3.3% respectively. The highest prevalence was among those aged 15 years i.e. 36.7%. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was higher among the subject who did not practice physical activity and whose family income was more than 10,000 per month. CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of overweight and obesity among adolescents student in Belgaum city was high which is statistically associated with less physically activity and monthly income of parent.