Background: Overweight and obesity are due to more intake of calories than its utilization. This overweight and obesity are the precursors of many fatal conditions. India is now in epidemiological polarization where at one hand we are facing challenges to combat the under nutrition, on the other hand over nutrition starts showing its effects.
Objective: To assess the prevalence of overweight and obesity among school children aged 10 to 12 years in Sambalpur.
Materials and Methods: It was a community-based cross-sectional study conducted in different schools of Sambalpur town of Odisha.
Result: The overall prevalence of overweight and obesity was found to be 9.6%. The prevalence was higher among female (10.7%) students than male students (9%). Comparing the schools, higher prevalence was noticed among students of English medium (13.3%) then the students of Odia medium (6%).
Conclusion: The rapid urbanization and industrialization of underdeveloped areas changes the pattern of eating habits and lifestyle. So steps should to be taken to fight against the risk factors causing this increased prevalence of overweight and obesity. Health education to the new generation is one of the most important steps to reduce this morbidity.
Key words: Overweight, obesity, BMI, CHD and Type 2 Diabetes, medium of school, prevalence
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