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Prevalence of overweight and obesity in adolescent Tehrani students, 2000–2001: an epidemic health problem

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2007

B Mohammadpour-Ahranjani ,
A Rashidi ,
M Karandish ,
MR Eshraghian  and
N Kalantari
B Mohammadpour-Ahranjani*
Affiliation:
Department of Nutrition Research, National Nutrition and Food Technology Research Institute, Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, PO Box 19395-4741, Tehran, Iran
A Rashidi
Affiliation:
Department of Nutrition Research, National Nutrition and Food Technology Research Institute, Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, PO Box 19395-4741, Tehran, Iran
M Karandish
Affiliation:
Department of Nutrition, School of Paramedical Sciences, Ahwaz University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, Ahwaz, Iran
MR Eshraghian
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, Tehran, Iran
N Kalantari
Affiliation:
Department of Community Nutrition, Faculty of Nutrition Sciences and Food Technology, Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, Tehran, Iran
*
*Corresponding author: Email [email protected]
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Abstract

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Objective:

Overweight has become a public health problem in most developing countries. Evidence suggests that adolescence is a critical period in determining adulthood obesity and its complications. The present study was carried out to assess the prevalence of overweight and obesity among secondary school students.

Design and setting:

This descriptive study was conducted in Tehran city, 2000–2001. Body weight and height were measured and body mass index (BMI) values were calculated. Underweight, overweight and obesity were defined as <5th, ≥85th and ≥95th percentile, respectively, of age- and sex-specific BMI values from the National Center for Health Statistics/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2000).

Subjects:

Using a multistage sampling method, 2321 students (1068 males and 1253 females) aged 11–16 years were assessed in Tehran, the capital city of Iran.

Results:

The overall prevalences of overweight and obesity were 21.1 and 7.8%, respectively. The prevalence of overweight among girl students (i.e. 23.1%; 95% confidence interval (CI) 20.8–25.4) was significantly higher than that among boys (i.e. 18.8%; 95% CI 16.5–21.1, P = 0.01) even after adjustment for age (odds ratio 1.26, 95% CI 1.03–1.55, P = 0.02). No significant risk of obesity associated with age was found in girls or boys. In both sexes, median values of age-specific BMI in this study were statistically higher than corresponding values collected in Tehrani adolescents 10 years ago (P = 0.03). Similarly, a significant difference was seen between girl students in this study and the reference population (P = 0.03).

Conclusion:

According to this study, overweight, especially in girls, should be considered an epidemic health problem among adolescent students in Tehran.

Keywords

AdolescenceOverweightObesityTehran
Type
Research Article
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Volume 7 , Issue 5 , August 2004 , pp. 645 - 648
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2004

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