Prevalence Of Overweight And Obesity Among Bengalee Adolescents In Midnapore Town, West Bengal, India

Objective Obesity has become known as an epidemic worldwide. Therefore a study was undertaken to assess the prevalence of adolescent overweight and obesity in Midnapore town, West Bengal, India. The results were compared with national and international prevalence levels in respect to economic status. Methods The subjects were selected from Bengalee speaking lower-middle socio-economic class. A total of 1265 (640 boys and 625 girls) children aged 10-12 years were measured and included in the present analysis. Body mass index (BMI) was computed using the following standard equation: BMI = Weight (kg)/height (m)2. Presence of overweight and obesity were evaluated using the International cut-off values as recommended by International Obesity Task Force (IOTF). Results The overall frequencies of overweight and obesity were 5.69% and 0.79%, respectively. The prevalence of overweight was significantly higher among girls (7.20%) compared to boys (4.22%). They had 1.89 (95% CI: 1.33 – 3.18) fold more chances to being overweight than the boys. There was a significant decreasing trend in the rate of overweight with increasing age among boys. The odds ratios for ages 10 and 11 were 3.94 and 3.01, respectively. The highest rate was observed among 10 year in both boys (5.88%) and girls (7.88%), while the lowest rate was found among 12 years in both boys (1.46%) and girls (6.37%). The prevalence of obesity was slightly higher in girls than in boys across ages. Conclusions The moderate rates of overweight and low rate of obesity were found among adolescents of Midnapore Town, West Bengal. We recommend that similar studies be undertaken among children and adolescents of different socioeconomic groups of different ethnicities from diverse parts of India. Such studies would help us to have a better and clearer picture on the overweight and obesity situation in India and other developing countries experience with rapid economic transition.