PREVALENCE OF OVERWEIGHT AND OBESITY AMONG PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN IN ABU DHABI

Background: Childhood obesity has become a very common public health issue with large proportion of children falling in category of overweight or obese. This study was conducted to determine the nutritional status of primary school children, and various factors associated with overweight & obesity at Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Arab Pakistani School, Abu Dhabi. Methods: This case cross sectional study was conducted from 1st April 2017 to 1st April 2018. Study population comprised of all Primary school Children, 1st - 5th grade (5-12 years). Information was collected regarding age, gender, maternal education level, family size, family income, means of travelling to school, having TV/computer at home, father having private car & child's participation in sports at school etc. Height and weight of children was measured and US 2000 CDC Growth Charts were used to determine nutritional status of children. Data was analyzed using SPSS. Chi square test was applied at 5% level of significance to determine association of different variables with nutritional status. Results: The study found that the prevalence of overweight / obesity among these children was 25% (13.4% were overweight & 11.6% were obese). The prevalence was nearly the same for males & females. The study also found that the prevalence of overweight/obesity decreased with the increase in parental education. The data also showed that taking part in sports decreased the prevalence of overweight/obesity. Home cooked fatty food and facilities like TV, computer & car were other factors leading to high BMI.