Prevalence of underweight, overweight and obesity among high-school girls in Sistan va Baluchistan

This descriptive study determined the prevalence of underweight, overweight and obesity among 752 high-school girls aged 14-18 years in Sistan va Baluchistan province, Islamic Republic of Iran. Using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention body mass index percentiles, the prevalences of underweight, overweight and obesity were 16.2%, 8.6% and 1.5% respectively. These rates were similar to the ones obtained using World Health Organization, First National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, and International Obesity Task Force criteria. The frequency of underweight in high-school girls in this province is higher than most countries and other parts of the Islamic Republic of Iran

Association of obesity with food habits and body image in school children of Nakhon Pathom Province, Thailand

In order to assess the relationship between obesity with food habit and body image, this case control study was conducted among 85 urban primary school children male and female aged 10-12 years old, attending Anuban School in Nakhon Pathom Province, in Thailand. Two different questionnaires were used for data collection for caregivers and students. The standard used for definition of overweight and obesity was body mass index [BMI]. Obesity was defined as percentile 4 times per week] ate blanched /steamed foods as well as spicy foods. While sugar consumption was the same between the two groups, oil consumption was higher among the obese group. Compared with control children, obese children had more snacks before breakfast as well as during lunch and dinner on weekdays and weekends. Normal students had more foods- except for leafy vegetable and fried BBQ snacks. Two-thirds of the children knew about the food groups, but only one-third of them could classify foods into the food groups. Obese children knew about the food groups and could classify foods better than the way normal children could. Children gained information about foods from their parents, teachers, sisters, books, and television. Most of obese children knew they were obese, and they were not happy with their status. In conclusion, Programs must be designed to improve nutrition and in this way, parents and /or caregivers must be involved

[Comparison of growth pattern in children under 6 years with standard national center for health statistics [NCHS]]

One of the applicable methods in determination of nutritional status and health is surveillance and assessment of physical growth. The attention to growth of children can be determined failure to thrive and protein energy malnutrition [PEM] in primary period of life. According to above stated, the objective of this study was to detect percentile of body weight and height children under 6 years. In Zahedan and its comparison with the standard NCHS. In a descriptive - analystical, cross-sectional study 4500 children under 6 years [2250 girls and 2250 boys] referred to treatment and health centers were selected by proportional and randomized method from 5 area of Zahedan. The body weight and height were measured, Statistical analysis were applied using SPSS. The findings showed weight growth in girls were higher than the boys in third and fifth percentiles of one year old, but the body weight of boys was higher than that of the girls. The variations of body weight and height indices were very much and a different degree of PEM was in our population. On the basis of weight index for age 21.9% and girls and 5.8% boys were more than 97[th] percentile in comparison with the standard NCHS. On the basis of as: height for age 31% and 36.5% of girls and boys between 61-72 month respectively were under 3[rd] percentile [stunting]. According to the percentile of height for age there was not a significant difference between different age groups in boys [P>0.05]. According to 3[rd] percentile the trend of height growth in the boys were higher than that in girls. In the boys, with age increase the percent of under weight, wasting and stunting cases were more than those in girls [P<0.0001]. On the basis of different mean in percentile of body weight and height in the boys and girls in comparison with the children. There were PEM in the boys more than girls. The results showed that NCHS standard could not be applied for determination of weight and height in all different groups of Iranian children, especially our population had different variation of epidemiologic and demographic characteristics. Hence, for more precise assessment it is recommended to design longitudinal study in the population