ABSTRACT
Background: the global prevalence of overweight and obesity had risen in recent decades, and obesity is taken into consideration as a public health concern and a major risk factor of common chronic disease. The objective of the present study was to estimate the prevalence of overweight and obesity and to identify its underlying factors among children 2-6 yr of age in Fars Province, southern Iran
Methods: a total of 8911 children, aged 2-6 yr age, were selected thorough multi-stage sampling in 30 cities of Fars Province in 2012-13. Overweight and obesity status was assessed through comparison by standard BMI for age and for sex percentiles [NCHS/CDC]. In addition, socio-demographic measures obtained from structured questionnaire were compared between normal and overweight plus obese [ow/ob] groups. We used backward stepwise Logistic Regression, Chi-square and Independent sample t-test to relate the underlying factors to the nutritional indices
Results: the prevalence of overweight and obesity was 5.7% [95% CI: 5.2%, 6.1%] and 5.2% [95% CI: 4.7%, 5.6%], respectively. The ow/ob was significantly correlated with male sex, urbanization, type of father's occupation, universal education of mothers, the higher birth weight, low access to household facilities, and not using health-care services [P<0.05]. Besides, the logistic regression analysis showed urbanization [OR=1.46, CI: 1.26, 1.70], second sibling [OR=1.183, CI: 1.00, 1.39], and less access to a variety of food groups [OR=1.32, CI: 1.05, 1.65] as ow/ob risk factors
Conclusions: the rate of overweight and obesity in the study population is at an alarming level. Therefore, a preventive program is needed to control ow/ob since early childhood considering the underlying factors for each region and individual groups