Prevalence of overweight and obesity in adolescent Tehrani students, 2000-2001: an epidemic health problem.

OBJECTIVE Overweight has become a public health problem in most developing countries. Evidence suggests that adolescence is a critical period in determining adulthood obesity and its complications. The present study was carried out to assess the prevalence of overweight and obesity among secondary school students. DESIGN AND SETTING This descriptive study was conducted in Tehran city, 2000-2001. Body weight and height were measured and body mass index (BMI) values were calculated. Underweight, overweight and obesity were defined as <5th, > or = 85th and > or = 95th percentile, respectively, of age- and sex-specific BMI values from the National Center for Health Statistics/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2000). SUBJECTS Using a multistage sampling method, 2321 students (1068 males and 1253 females) aged 11-16 years were assessed in Tehran, the capital city of Iran. RESULTS The overall prevalences of overweight and obesity were 21.1 and 7.8%, respectively. The prevalence of overweight among girl students (i.e. 23.1%; 95% confidence interval (CI) 20.8-25.4) was significantly higher than that among boys (i.e. 18.8%; 95% CI 16.5-21.1, P=0.01) even after adjustment for age (odds ratio 1.26, 95% CI 1.03-1.55, P=0.02). No significant risk of obesity associated with age was found in girls or boys. In both sexes, median values of age-specific BMI in this study were statistically higher than corresponding values collected in Tehrani adolescents 10 years ago (P=0.03). Similarly, a significant difference was seen between girl students in this study and the reference population (P=0.03). CONCLUSION According to this study, overweight, especially in girls, should be considered an epidemic health problem among adolescent students in Tehran.