| Summary: | Objective. To determine the prevalence of obesity and its risk factors in Turkish children.
Method. This cross-sectional survey was conducted on students including 1271 boys and 1206
girls selected from 20 secondary schools in Samsun, Turkey. A predesigned questionnaire
was used to elicit the information on individual characteristics. The height and weight of
students were measured in their classroom. Obesity was defined as body mass index at or
above the 95th percentile for age of the sex-specific CDC growth charts.
Result. The mean age was 12.8 ± 0.9 years, and the prevalence of obesity was found at 10.3%.
There were higher numbers of obese students in boys than in girls (X2 = 53.4; P < 0.001). The
prevalence of obesity was 10.0% and 16.8% in public and private school students, respectively.
The percentage of obese children in students who skipped breakfast was found to be higher
than that in the group that consumed 3 meals a day regularly. There was no difference at time spent
in sedentary behavior except watching TV, and prevalence of obesity in the group of
students watching television over 3 hours per day was higher than that in their counterparts
(X2 = 13.6; P < 0.01). The time of engagement in sports was lower in obese group statistically (F = 8.9;
P < 0.001).
Conclusion. In order to prevent childhood obesity, monitoring children's lifestyle by parents
is necessary.
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