Yafteh

Background : Obesity and overweight are related to biological factors, individual, social, economic factors, different cultural factors and feeding behavior.  Recognizing these factors can be a guidance of interventions relating to prevention and control of obesity in children and teenagers. The present study was aimed to study determinant factors of obesity and overweight in students of Khorramabad city.

Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 3387 students from age 6 to 14 were selected by combinative, multistage grouped and clustered sampling. Students' height and weight were measured and also body mass index (BIM) was calculated. In order to determine  the  prevalence, body mass index was used  for age in NCHS table and evidence up 95 was regarded as obese and 85 to 95 was regarded as overweight.    

Results: The relation of overweight and obesity in students with kind of school, family size, parental education and family income was very significant     (p<0.001). Obesity and overweight were more prevalent in students of non-profit schools and families with more income. Students whose parents had higher education, the prevalence of overweight and obesity was more. There wasn't  a significant relation between overweight and obesity and pubertal status (p=0.1).

Conclusion: Overweight and obesity in case study students were related to individual and external factors. Of these factors, we can mention factors such as gender, birth rank, family size and parental education.