Overweight & Obesity among School-children: Prevalence & Risk Factors

Obesity is a modern day epidemic and affects all parts of world and India is of no exception. Obesity has its origin in early childhood. It has fatal effects on cardiovascular system, respiratory system, gastrointestinal system etc. Pathogenesis of obesity is multi-factorial involving interaction of genetic, neuro-endocrine, metabolic, psychological, environmental and socio-cultural factors. Mutation of leptin is associated with obesity. Genetic syndromes like Prader- Willi syndrome, Bradet- Biedl syndrome, Cohen syndrome etc are also known to be associated with obesity.A strong correlation between body mass index (BMI) of adult life and birth weight was noted.Sedentary lifestyles like viewing television, playing games in computers instead of playing outdoor games lead to an increase in incidence of obesity.Multiple co-morbidities of obesity were identified. Metabolic syndrome includes obesity, dyslipidemia, impaired glucose tolerance and hypertension.