Prevalence of over and under weight among school children in Mosul

Abstract

ABSTRAT:Aim: To evaluate the prevalence of over and under weight in children aged 6-14 years in Mosul city and to observe the important risk factors. Methods: A cross-sectional study of four governmental primary schools in Mosul city with a total of 2056 child aged 6-14 years were included. Analysis of the data was done by using SPSS and excel computer systems, X 2 test was used for statistical analysis. Results:The study reveals that the prevalence of under weight is 6.8%; on the other hand the prevalence of over weight and obesity were 11.3% and 9.8% respectively. Also the study shows that about three quarters of over weight and obese students spend three or more hours daily in watching television, and (44.2%) of them eat more than three meals per day. Conclusions: Overweight and obesity are prevalent problems in Mosul, it is valuable to conduct a study to evaluate the risk factors.

Obesity is a Major Health Problem Threatening the Iraqis- review article

“…Various studies were conducted to measure the prevalence of childhood obesity among primary schoolchildren which reported a rapid increase in the prevalence of obesity and overweight in the Iraqi community. (29,37,38) . This could be related to males participating in sports more likely than females who tend towards a more sedentary lifestyle (39).…”