The prevalence of childhood obesity

Abstract

Background: Childhood obesity has increased dramatically and has become a public health concern worldwide. However, there is paucity of new data on obesity among school children in Mongolia. This study assessed the prevalence of obesity among school children in Ulaanbaatar. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among school age children in randomly selected schools in Ulaanbaatar. Anthropometric measurements were taken using standard procedures. Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated as weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters (kg/m2). Child overweight and obesity was defined as BMI at or above 75th percentile for age and sex. Excess fat determined in Bodimetrix-2020. Statistical analyses was at soft ware SPSS-17. Results: A total of 489 children were included in the analysis. The mean age of the participants was 13±2.0 years and 55.9% were girls, 44.1% bois. The overall prevalence of child obesity by BMI 7.4 %, obesity with excess fat-24.39 and joint obesity -17,6% was revealed was among schools children’s. Obese children had significantly higher mean values of anthropometric indices for age 11-12 year (p=0.05). Child with obesity was higher significantly anthropometric indices, than child no obesity, such as body weight, circumference of chest and abdomen, fat, excess fat. Conclusions: The prevalence of childhood obesity in schools children was found 49.3%,”hidden” obesity -134.3%.