Journal of AdvancedMedical and Dental Sciences Research

Background: Obesity is one of the common problems occurring in the adolescent and characterized by abnormal and excessive fat accumulation in adipose tissue to the extent that health may be adversely affected. In both developing and developed countries, the prevalence of obesity is increasing at an alarming rate. It has become a serious epidemic health problem, estimated to be the fifth leading cause of mortality at global level. Hence; we evaluated the association between obesity, eating habits and nutritional knowledge among children in Indian population. Materials & Methods: The present study included all the children of 8 to 10 years of age studying in government schools in Luchnow. A total of 600 children were evaluated from September 2014 to August 2015. Measurement of anthropometric measures (weight and height) was done by calculating BMI when verifying current nutritional status. Must et al criteria were used as standard for our study BMI over the 85th percentile in children were considered overweight and those with BMI over the 95th percentile were considered obese. Logistic regression methods were used to assess the level of significance. Results: Female population was predominant in the present study. More than 80% of the population had parents whose education level was limited to less than primary education.  The prevalence of overweight was approximately 15% and of obesity was less than 10%. Only variable fond to be significantly (p<0.05) associated to obesity was the eating habits. An increased risk of obesity was seen in younger age although it was not significant (p=0.12). No direct correlation was seen among knowledge that children had concerning nutrition and obesity. Conclusion: Children possess very little information about the nutritional and healthy dietary habits which further reflects insufficiency of the knowledge sources which could impart better knowledge to them about all these factors.
Key words: Children, Obesity