Prevalence of overweight and obesity and associated risk factors in urban primary-school children in Babol, Islamic Republic of Iran.

Childhood obesity is a major public health problem globally because of changes in lifestyles. We assessed the prevalence of overweight/obesity and associated factors in urban schoolchildren in Babol in a cross-sectional study of 1000 schoolchildren aged 7-12 years. Weight and height were measured and data on sports activities and leisure time physical activities were collected by questionnaire. Overweight/obesity were assessed by comparing body mass index (BMI) values to the BMI index for age and sex percentiles set by CDC, Atlanta. The prevalence of obesity and overweight was 5-8% and 12.3% respectively. The prevalence was significantly lower in girls compared with boys (age-adjusted OR = 0.69, 95% Cl: 0.50-0.96) and higher among private-school educated children compared with public-school educated students (age adjusted OR = 2.17, 95% Cl: 1.47-3.18). For each additional score of leisure time physical activity, the age-adjusted OR decreased significantly.