Frequency of overweight and obesity among Middle School Children A case study of District Hyderabad Pakistan

The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of obesity among middle school children of Hyderabad District. We undertook a comprehensive cross sectional study to assess the prevalence of obesity among middle school children. A total of 600 students from public and private schools were enrolled for the study (300 female students and 300 male students). Out of 300 female students, 150 students belongs to public and remaining150 to private schools. Likewise out of 300 male students, 150 students belong to public and 150 belong to private schools. Body Mass Index (BMI) was used to determine prevalence of overweight and obesity. BMI for age was computed by measuring height and weight of each student. The result shows that the mean age of female students was 12.40 years and means height was 57.94 inches. While their male counterparts had a mean age of 13.19 years and mean height was 60.50 inches. The prevalence of obesity among female students was 9.3% and 17.34% in public and private schools respectively and combined obesity was 13.3% similarly the prevalence of obesity among male students was 18.7%, 17.3% and 18.0% in public, private schools and combined total respectively. The high prevalence of obesity among schoolchildren seems to be due to the sedentary life style, lack of recommended physical activity on daily basis as well as consumption large amount of calories in the form of junk food or fast food. High-tech devices like mobile, cordless phones and remote controls also contribute to couch culture and prevent children of necessary walk. Furthermore, it was also observed that people are less aware of health, and psychological issues of child obesity.