TITLE:
Childhood Obesity in Primary School Children of Middle and Upper-Middle Income Group in the Capital City of Bangladesh
AUTHORS:
Shuhana Sultana, Farzana Saleh, Liaquat Ali
KEYWORDS:
Obesity, Overweight, Weight, Fast Foods Culture, Nutrition, Primary School Children, Urban, Capital City, Dhaka, Bangladesh
JOURNAL NAME:
Food and Nutrition Sciences,
Vol.6 No.13,
October
8,
2015
ABSTRACT: Background: No published information is available on the status of childhood obesity in Bangladeshi primary school children of urban middle and upper-middle income group. The aim of the study was to explore the proportion of childhood obesity in the primary school children of middle and upper-middle income group in capital city and to gather information on their dietary pattern and physical activity. Methods: One hundred and fifty children (age 9 ± 1 years, height (ht) 118 ± 20 cm, weight (wt) 36 ± 8 kg, wt/ht% 126 ± 24, mean ± SD) were selected purposively from the primary schools of Dhaka city. On the basis of predefined scoring, subjects were classified as underweight, normal, overweight and obese if their weight-for-height values were 120% of median values for Bangladeshi children respectively. Dietary intake and energy expenditure of the study subjects were calculated by standard techniques. Results: The proportion of childhood overweight and obesity was 52% and 20%. The proportion of overweight and obesity was higher (78%) among girls compared to boys (54%). Similarly, height, weight and other anthropometrics indices were significantly (p