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Prevalence of overweight and obesity among school children and adolescents in Chennai

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Abstract

Objectives

To determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents in Chennai, India, using national and international age- and sex- specific body mass index (BMI) cut-off points.

Methods

The Obesity Reduction and Awareness and Screening of Non communicable diseases through Group Education in Children and Adolescents (ORANGE) project is a cross-sectional study carried out on 18,955 children (age 6–11 years) and adolescents (age 12–17 years) across 51 schools (31 private and 20 government) of Chennai. Overweight and obesity was classified by the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF 2000) and Khadilkar’s criteria (2012), and Hypertension by the IDF criteria (in children ≥10 years and adolescents).

Results

The prevalence of overweight/obesity was significantly higher in private compared to government schools both by the IOTF criteria [private schools: 21.4%, government schools: 3.6%, (OR: 7.4, 95% CI:6.3–8.6; P<0.001) and by Khadilkar criteria (private school: 26.4%, government schools: 4.6% OR: 6.9, 95% CI:6.2–7.8; P<0.001). Overweight/obesity was higher among girls (IOTF: 18%, Khadilkar: 21.3%) compared to boys (IOTF: 16.2%, Khadilkar: 20.7%) and higher among adolescents (IOTF: 18.1%, Khadilkar: 21.2%) compared to children (IOTF: 15.5%, Khadilkar: 20.7%). Prevalence of hypertension was 20.4% among obese/overweight and 5.2% among non-obese (OR 4.7, 95%CI: 4.2–5.3, P<0.001).

Conclusion

The prevalence of overweight and obesity is high among private schools in Chennai, and hypertension is also common.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Diabetes Research, Madras Diabetes Research Foundation and Dr Mohan’s Diabetes Specialities Centre, IDF Centre for Education, 4, Conran Smith Road, Gopalapuram, Chennai, 600 086, India

    Sonya Jagadesan, Ranjani Harish, Priya Miranda, Ranjit Unnikrishnan, Ranjit Mohan Anjana & Viswanathan Mohan

Authors
  1. Sonya Jagadesan
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  2. Ranjani Harish
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  3. Priya Miranda
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  4. Ranjit Unnikrishnan
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  5. Ranjit Mohan Anjana
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  6. Viswanathan Mohan
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Correspondence to Viswanathan Mohan.

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Jagadesan, S., Harish, R., Miranda, P. et al. Prevalence of overweight and obesity among school children and adolescents in Chennai. Indian Pediatr 51, 544–549 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13312-014-0444-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13312-014-0444-6

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