Body composition and prevalence of overweight and obesity and its determinants among adolescents in Manipur, North-Eastern India: a cross-sectional study

ABSTRACT

Background: Childhood obesity is emerging as one of the serious public health problems. It has become one of the significant risk factors associated with a cluster of non-communicable diseases which causes an enormous socioeconomic and public health burden. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the body fat % and prevalence of overweight and obesity among adolescent in Manipur and to identify factors which may contribute to overweight.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 12,410 students studying in class VIII-XII in four districts of Manipur from 2007-2009.  A self-administered questionnaire method was used. BMI and Body composition were determined using the TANITA Body Composition Analyzer. Overweight/ obesity were classified by using WHO classification. Analysis done using SPSSv20 and mean (SD), percentages and Chi-square test were used. A p-value <0.05 was considered as statistically significant.Results: The overall mean fat % was 19.4±6.1 and girls have higher fat% than boys. Overall prevalence of overweight and obesity were 6.4% and 1.2% respectively. Obesity prevalence was more among girls than boys (1.6% vs 1.0%). Statistically significant association was found between obesity with family history of overweight, private schooling, playing games, mode of transport to school, sleeping hours, being vegetarian and watching television.Conclusions: Though the prevalence of overweight and obesity as compared to other parts of India is low, the increasing trend is a definite cause of concern. Therefore, there is a need for primary prevention targeted among children and adolescents regarding adoption of healthy life styles.