Abstract

Background
This study aimed to assess childhood obesity and physical activity patterns in an
urban Thailand primary school.
Methods
In a case-control study, 85 male and female school children, aged 10-12-years old,
were randomly selected from a school in Nakhon Pathom province, Thailand.
Anthropometric data, including weight and height were collected. Obese or
overweight children were considered as case group. Obesity was defined as percentile
≥ 95th, and overweight was defined as percentile ≥ 85, of the sex- specific BMI-forage
growth CDC charts. A routine activity checklist evaluated different activities of
the children during weekdays and on weekends. Based on CDC site, all activities
were classified as light, moderate or heavy.
Results
There was a significant difference between sleeping hours of case and control groups
on weekends (P=0.000), and control group had longer sleeping periods. The case
group had less moderate activity on weekdays and weekends, but there was no
2
statistically significant difference between case and control group. The hours of light
activities on weekends in the control group were significantly less than that in the
obese group (P

Key words: Obesity, child obesity, physical activity.