Rationale, methods and first results of the Iranian national programme for prevention of chronic diseases from childhood: CASPIAN Study.

The CASPIAN Study aims to implement a school-based surveillance system for prevention of noncommunicable diseases from childhood in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The baseline survey was conducted from November 2003 to May 2004 in 23 provinces among 21,111 school students aged 6-18 years and their parents. The data collected included: birth weight and current anthropometric measurements; dietary and exercise habits; family history of chronic diseases; and knowledge about prevention. Fasting blood sugar and lipid profile were assessed in a subsample of 4811 students.

Rationale, methods and first results of the Iranian national programme for prevention of chronic diseases from childhood: CASPIAN Study

The CASPIAN Study aims to implement a school-based surveillance system for prevention of noncommunicable diseases from childhood in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The baseline survey was conducted from November 2003 to May 2004 in 23 provinces among 21 111 school students aged 6-18 years and their parents. The data collected included: birth weight and current anthropometric measurements; dietary and exercise habits; family history of chronic diseases; and knowledge about prevention. Fasting blood sugar and lipid profile were assessed in a subsample of 4811 students

Thinness, overweight and obesity in a national sample of Iranian children and adolescents: CASPIAN Study.

BACKGROUND: This study was conducted to assess the national prevalence of different grades of nutritional status (underweight, normal weight, overweight and obesity) among Iranian school-students and to compare the prevalence of overweight and obesity using three different sets of criteria. METHODS: This cross-sectional national survey was conducted on a representative sample of 21 111 school students including 10 253 boys (48.6%) and 10 858 girls (51.4%) aged 6-18 years, selected by multistage random cluster sampling from urban (84.6%) and rural (15.4%) areas of 23 provinces in Iran The percentage of subjects in the corresponding body mass index (BMI) categories of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) and the obtained national percentiles were assessed and compared. RESULTS: There was no gender differences in BMI, but was higher in boys living in urban than in rural areas (18.4 +/- 3.88 vs. 17.86 +/- 3.66 kg/m(2) respectively, P < 0.05). The prevalence of underweight was 13.9% (8.1% of boys and 5.7% of girls) according to the CDC percentiles, and 5% (2.6% of boys and 2.4% of girls) according to the obtained percentiles. According to the CDC, IOTF and national cut-offs, the prevalence of overweight was 8.82%, 11.3% and 10.1% respectively; and the prevalence of obesity was 4.5%, 2.9% and 4.79% respectively. The prevalence of overweight was highest (10.98%) in the 12-year-old group and that of obesity (7.81%) in the 6-year-old group. The kappa correlation coefficient was 0.71 between the CDC and IOTF criteria, 0.64 between IOTF and national cut-offs, and 0.77 between CDC and national cut-offs. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study warrant the necessity of paying special attention to monitoring of the time trends in child obesity based on uniform definitions, as well as to design programmes to prevent and control associated factors.