Publication:

Body composition and prevalence of overweight and obesity and its determinants among adolescents in Manipur, North-Eastern India: a cross-sectional study

Background Childhood obesity is emerging as one of the serious public health problems. It has become one of the significant risk factors associated with a cluster of non-communicable diseases which causes an enormous socioeconomic and public health burden. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the body fat % and prevalence of overweight and obesity among adolescent in Manipur and to identify factors which may contribute to overweight.

Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 12,410 students studying in class VIII-XII in four districts of Manipur from 2007-2009.  A self-administered questionnaire method was used. BMI and Body composition were determined using the TANITA Body Composition Analyzer. Overweight/ obesity were classified by using WHO classification. Analysis done using SPSSv20 and mean (SD), percentages and Chi-square test were used. A p-value <0.05 was considered as statistically significant.

Results The overall mean fat % was 19.4±6.1 and girls have higher fat% than boys. Overall prevalence of overweight and obesity were 6.4% and 1.2% respectively. Obesity prevalence was more among girls than boys (1.6% vs 1.0%). Statistically significant association was found between obesity with family history of overweight, private schooling, playing games, mode of transport to school, sleeping hours, being vegetarian and watching television.

Conclusions Though the prevalence of overweight and obesity as compared to other parts of India is low, the increasing trend is a definite cause of concern. Therefore, there is a need for primary prevention targeted among children and adolescents regarding adoption of healthy life styles.