Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the frequency of shortness, overweight and obesity among primary school students in three different regions of Turkey during the course of a program of medical screening in town and village schools located in the provinces of Istanbul, Iğdır and Muğla.
Material and Method: A total of 1,134 students were studied. These subjects were students of a village primary school in the district of Şile-Istanbul, 6 village schools in the district of Karakoyunlu-Iğdır and another primary school in the district of Göcek-Muğla; they were reviewed in terms of short stature, overweight, and obesity.
Results: It was seen in the study that a total of 116 (10.2%) of the children reviewed were below the third percentile in terms of height relative to age. In all of the regions analyzed, 123 children (10.8%) were found to be overweight, 60 (5.3%) were obese. The frequency of overweight by regions was 16.1% in Şile-Istanbul, 3.7% in Karakoyunlu-Iğdır and 17.5% in Göcek-Muğla. Frequencies of obesity in the respective regions were 5.4%, 0.9%, and 10.1%.
Conclusion: The frequency of shortness and obesity was found to differ in three different regions of Turkey. In assessing the frequency of short stature and obesity in Turkey, we believe it will be useful to review similarities and differences in socio-economic data separately for the various regions of the country.
Key words: Short stature, obesity, body mass index
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