BODY MASS INDEX AT PUBERTY SCHOOLCHILDREN IN ROMANIA, URBAN AREAS

In recent years, the prevalence of overweight increased as a result of complex interactions between genes, dietary intake, physical activity and environment. The aim of this study is to estimate the incidence of overweight of a sample of pupils and if there are significant differences in terms of demographic variables, such as gender and age, as well as body mass index and anthropometric indicators, such as height and weight. In order to obtain data on the overweight, anthropometric indicators, such as height and weight, were measured and the body mass index (BMI) was calculated, to a total of 261 schoolchildren, between 12 and 15 years. An ANOVA 2 (gender) x 2 (age) was performed to determine if there are significant differences between the dependent variable (body mass index) and the independent variables. The results show significant differences in body mass index according to the age (F-(3,F-254) = 5.35; p < 0.05; R-2 =.059) and the gender (F-(3,F- 254) = 4.19; p < 0.05; R-2 =.047) of the schoolchildren. A very strong positive relationship between BMI and weight, according to the gender, was found and a high direct correlation between height and weight, according to the gender, was found, too. No relationships are found between body mass index according to the age of the measured schoolchildren. Measured anthropometric indicators show significant increases. A high percentage of overweight schoolchildren, are obese. WHO recognizes that overweight, in childhood and adolescence, represents a major problem for industrialized countries. (C) 2017 Published by Future Academy www.FutureAcademy.org.uk