The Prevalence of Obesity in Iranian Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Background: The prevalence of childhood obesity has been on an increasing trend in the world during the past decades, with studies in Iran showing different and inconsistent prevalence rates. Objectives: This study was done to determine the prevalence of obesity in children through a meta-analysis approach. Methods: This study was done to determine the prevalence of obesity in children through a meta-analysis approach from January 2000 to January 2021. Articles related to the subject were obtained by searching Scopus, ScienceDirect, SID, Magiran, Barakat Knowledge Network System, Medline (PubMed), and Google Scholar databases. The heterogeneity of the studies was evaluated using the I2 index and the data were analyzed by Comprehensive Meta-analysis software. Results: In a study on 2,637,912 individuals aged 2-15 years, the overall prevalence of obesity in Iranian children was 11.4% (95% CI: 9.4-13.7%) based on a meta-analysis. Also, in order to investigate the effects of potential factors (sample size and year of study) on the heterogeneity of obesity prevalence in Iranian children, meta-regression was used. It was reported that the prevalence of obesity in Iranian children decreased and increased with increasing sample size and increasing years of the study, respectively, and both were significantly different from each other (P<0.05). Conclusions: Considering the high prevalence of obesity in Iranian children, it is necessary for health policymakers to take effective educational measures.