Comparative study on overweight and obesity among school going adolescent boys in small town and metropolitan city of West Bengal Vashisth Sanjay1, Chhetri Alpana2,* 1Associate Professor, Department of Physiology, Midnapore Medical College, Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal 2Assistant Professor, Department of O&G, CSS College of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Child Health, S. P Mukherjee Road, Kolkata, West Bengal *Corresponding Author: Dr Alpana Chhetri, Flat E 209, Sunrise Estate, 14/C Radhanath Chowdhury Road, Kolkata-700015. Phone: +91 98309 83496, +91 9830519741, Email: chhetrialpana@yahoo.com
Online published on 1 November, 2018. Abstract Background Childhood and adolescent obesity is one of the most serious public health challenges of the 21st century. The problem is global and is affecting many low and middle-income countries, particularly in urban settings. The most importance significance is persistence of obesity into adult-hood with all the associated health risks. Materials and Method It is the observational, cross-sectional and comparative study and a total of 1200 boy students, 600 from one government and one private school of metropolitan city of Kolkata and 600 from a government and a private school of rural town of Midnapore district of West-Bengal were enrolled. In our study BMI was calculated from weight and height, and cut off of 23 and 27 were taken for overweight and obesity respectively. It is observed that 16.3% and4% boys from Midnapore town were overweight and obese respectively. In Kolkata city 18.3% and 6% boys were overweight and obese respectively. Statistically significant (P<.0001) difference is found in the BMI of boys from Midnapore town and Kolkata city. Conclusion It is seen that children from cities and those belonging to higher socio-economic groups with less outdoor activities and consuming fast food were more likely to be overweight and obese than the boys from small town areas. These factors should be addressed and necessary measures should be taken to reduce the incidence of obesity especially in urban setting. Top Keywords Overweight, obesity, BMI, adolescent boys, Metopolitan, Town. Top |