Iranian Journal of Diabetes and Obesity

Objective: In recent years, the prevalence of overweight and obesity had a significant growth in children. Obesity is a serious health problem all over the world. In this study, we aimed to determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity in elementary students in Robat-Karim, Iran in 2014.

Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 490 female students of elementary school aged between 7 to 11 years in Robat-Karim, Iran in 2014. The percentages of Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention growth charts (CDC) have been utilized to determine overweight and obesity. SPSS-16 software has been applied for statistical analysis.

Results Mean age of the students was 8.97+ 1.38 years. According to CDC, 28 (5.7%) of the students were obese, and 75 (5.78%) of the students were overweight. Overweight and obesity were significantly related with birth weight, body mass index(BMI) of parents, and time spent for watching TV, computer games and other electronic entertainments (P <0.001).

Conclusion: According to obtained results, interventional programs should be done to correct life-style and prevent overweight and obesity among elementary school students.