Prevalence of overweight and besity among school children in suburb Thailand defined by the international obesity task force standard

Abstract

Background: Overweight and obesity is an emerging problem among children worldwide. Body mass index (BMI) is widely used to define overweight and obesity as it correlates well with high accuracy to measure body fatness. Objective: Aim of the present study is to determine the prevalence of obesity in Thai school children by using the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) standard. Material and Method: The school based cross-sectional study was conducted in 1,140 children aged 6-15 years in Ongkharak, Thailand. Anthropometric measurements including weight and height were obtained to determine BMI. The results were analyzed statistically by applying student t-test, and Chi-square test. Results: The prevalence of overweight and obesity among school children in suburb Thailand was 12.8% and 9.4%, respectively. There were no significant differences in prevalence of overweight and obesity between gender splits and between age specific groups. Conclusion: The prevalence of overweight and obesity has been dramatically increasing among Thai children. Further longterm follow-up studies are required to determine the growth pattern of children with higher BMI for age and to survey for obesity-related co-morbid condition in Thai children.