Obesity in Moscow school age students: prevalence, age- and gender-related features.

Background: obesity in children and adolescents became one of the most globally challenging medical prob- lems over the past decades. Method: School-age children and adolescents from the Moscow's schools were examined. Height and weight data were obtained from screening examination records found in school medical charts. BMI (body mass index) was calculated. Derived data was analyzed according to the World Health Organization growth charts, for gender and age. Results: We demonstrated that in Moscow students aged 5 to 16 years old, obesity occurs mostly in the prepuberty period: boys 10-13, and girls 9-10. At the same time obesity prevalence is significantly higher in male adolescents than in female. In older groups decline in obesity prevalence provides for decrease in overweight prevalence. Obesity in specific groups with its maximum prevalence shows unfavorable features due to the predominance of central obesity indices both in boys and in girls. The most significant growth registered in thickness of abdominal and subscupular skinfolds (ASF and SSF, respectively) which was found in boys (4.3 and 4 times greater). In males abdominal obesity prevails, whereas in fe- males, distribution of subcutaneous adipose tissue is more even. Conclusion: The value of ASF and SSF as a tool for car- diovascular pathology risk factors assessment in urban students ages 9-13 was confirmed by correlative analysis. These parameters have the strongest correlation with all the others evalu-ated in this investigation. Waist-to-hip ratio didn't show any significance in assessment of obesity in persons of prepuberty age.