Journal of Obesity & Weight Loss Therapy
Open Access

Abstract

Introduction : Childhood obesity is now a global problem and this epidemic is increasing in the developing world. It has also become an important public health problem among Pakistani children due to rapid urbanization, inequitable development and changes in life style in last few decades. The schools in developing countries lack policies on physical education and scarce attention is given to the physical activity needs of the children. Material and Methods : This cross sectional study was conducted on 501 students selected through simple random sampling from 10 high schools from an urban setting. We used the age and sex specific BMI cut off points of W.H.O to estimate Obesity. Interviews were conducted to inquire about food frequency, physical activity and other factors. Results : Prevalence of overweight and obesity was 23% and 15%, in boys; and 16% and 8% respectively in girls. Children spent a mean of 20 hours on media on a typical week, 60% of them travelled inactively to schools, 50% schools did not have facilities for sports and 44% of the schools did not offer classes on physical education. In multivariate analysis girls were 77% protected against obesity, OR=0.33 (CI=0.16-68) and children in middle socioeconomic tertile were 3.43 times more likely to be obese. Rating oneself as poor athlete meant 5.5 times more likelihood of obesity and eating fruit more than 4 times a week meant 55% (OR=0.45 CI=0.22-0.91) less likelihood of obesity. Those who wanted to loose weight had 7.75 times more likelihood of obesity. Conclusions: Childhood obesity is determined by the factors in the home, school and society and a multidisciplinary approach is needed to prevent this rising epidemic in developing countries. Interventions have to focus on influence school physical education policies and a conducive social infrastructure for active mode of living.

Biography

Connie Stapleton, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist whose work in the field of addiction and recovery for the past 20 years has resulted in her authoring three books on recovery from obesity. She actively participates with the Obesity Action Coalition, the Weight Loss Surgery Foundation of America, and ObesityHelp. Dr. Stapleton is a national and international speaker: American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgeons, the World Congress for the International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders, at the Lifestyles Intervention Conference, at the Society for the Advancement of Sexual Health conference and at ObesityHelp conferences nationwide.