Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity among Adolescents Studying in Government and Private Schools of District Kathua.

Dr Parveen Singh; Dr Kamna Singh; Dr Yangchen Dolma

Volume : IX, Issue : I, January - 2020

Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity among Adolescents Studying in Government and Private Schools of District Kathua.

Dr Parveen Singh, Dr Kamna Singh, Dr Yangchen Dolma

Abstract :

The study was done with the objective to determine the Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity among school going Adolescent of District Kathua and to study the various risk factors associated with Adolescent Obesity.A Cross sectional study was conducted for a period of two months from October to November 2019.The study area include Urban Health Training Centre, Krishna colony (UHTC) which is the field practice area of government medical college, Kathua. Line listing of all the government and private schools of Krishna colony was done accordingly. Out of the enlisted school, 4 Government and 4 private schools was selected randomly by lottery method. A predesigned, semi structured closed ended questionnaire was self administered to each pupil. Anthropometry was done by measuring height and weight by standardized equipments and BMI was calculated accordingly. WHO 2007 Growth reference for 5– 19 years was used for classifying overweight and obesity using age and gender specific cut off points. Data was entered in Microsoft Excel. Descriptive statistics was expressed in the form of number and Percentages. Inferential statistics was calculated using Epi info. Chi square test was done and p Value less than .05 was taken as significant. Prevalence was found to be more in private schools. Less physical activity, intake of non veg diet, frequent intake of non vegetarian diet, visit to restaurant more than a week and positive family history of Diabetes mellitus were found to be significant risk factor for overweight and obesity.Interventions at school level like health education to inculcate healthy lifestyle, healthy diet and health impact of overweight and obesity is emphasized. Counselling to overweight and obese children and their parents can be given at repeated intervals.Advocacy through IEC material and involvement of health sector may help in preventing obesity and obesity related diseases in the long run.