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Prevalence of overweight and obesity among adolescent students in

Pondicherry, South India

Article in International journal of Nutrition Pharmacology Neurological Diseases · April 2016

DOI: 10.4103/2231-0738.179966

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O r i g i n al A r t icle

Prevalence of overweight and obesity among

adolescent students in Pondicherry, South India
Vishnu Prasad R, Joy Bazroy, Zile Singh

Department of Community ABSTRACT

Medicine, Pondicherry Institute
of Medical Sciences, Puducherry,
India Context: The adolescent period of human life is one of the vital times when most of the
body growth and development occur. Nearly 35% of the global burden of disease has
Address for correspondence: its root emergence in adolescence. Overweight and obesity are defined as “abnormal
Dr. Vishnu Prasad R, or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health.” Aims: The present
Department of Community
Medicine, Pondicherry Institute of
study aims to measure the prevalence of overweight and obesity among adolescent
Medical Sciences, Kalapet ‑ 605 014, students (aged 10–18 years) in Pondicherry. Settings and Design: The study was
Puducherry, India. conducted as a cross‑sectional study among 10–18‑year‑old students in Pondicherry. The
E‑mail: vishnuprasath2@gmail.com study was conducted among 2,465 students from 5 schools and 2 polytechnic colleges.
Materials and Methods: The students were classified as “overweight” or “obese”
based on the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) age‑ and gender‑specific body mass
index (BMI) guidelines. Statistical Analysis Used: Data entry was done in MS Excel 2013
and Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21 was used for the statistical
analysis. Chi‑square test was used to identify statistical difference in proportions.
Results: The study results showed that the prevalence of overweight and obesity in our
study population was 9.7% and 4.3%, respectively. There was no difference in prevalence
between males and females. The prevalence of overweight/obesity increased as the age
advanced. Conclusions: The prevalence of overweight and obesity was predominant
among the students of private schools in the urban region in our study population.

Key words: Adolescent, obesity, overweight, prevalence, students

INTRODUCTION that presents a risk to health.”[2] Energy imbalance

between consumed and expended constitute the
The adolescent period of human life is one of the primary etiology behind overweight and obesity.
vital times when most of the body growth and Changing dietary pattern and sedentary lifestyle
development occur. Preparation for adulthood takes are said to have led to the increasing prevalence of
place in this period in the form of physical, sexual, overweight and obesity. South Asia is found to have
and psychological growth and development. Nearly the highest prevalence of obesity and it was found to
35% of the global burden of disease has its root increase every year.[3] Obesity in adolescents is found
emergence in adolescence.[1] Overweight and obesity
are defined as “abnormal or excessive fat accumulation This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution‑NonCommercial‑ShareAlike 3.0 License, which allows
others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non‑commercially, as long as the
Access this article online author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.
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Website:
For reprints contact: reprints@medknow.com
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How to cite this article: Prasad RV, Bazroy J, Singh Z. Prevalence
of overweight and obesity among adolescent students in Pondicherry,
DOI:
South India. Int J Nutr Pharmacol Neurol Dis 2016;6:72-5.
10.4103/2231-0738.179966
Received: 24-10-2015, Accepted: 20-11-2015

72 © 2016 International Journal of Nutrition, Pharmacology, Neurological Diseases | Published by Wolters Kluwer - Medknow
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Prasad, et al.: Overweight and obesity among adolescent students

to have association with the occurrence of various was done in MS Excel 2013 and Statistical Package
lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21 (SPSS‑Inc.,
dyslipidemia, osteoarthritis. during adulthood. It Chicago, IL) was used for the statistical analysis.
is essential to know the prevalence of overweight Written informed consent was obtained from the
and obesity among adolescents so that appropriate parents and assent was obtained from the students
preventive measures can be taken. The present study wherever applicable.
aims to measure the prevalence of overweight and
obesity among adolescent students (aged 10–18 years) RESULTS
in Pondicherry.
The age‑ and gender‑wise distribution of the students
MATERIALS AND METHODS who participated in the study based on their height and
weight are found to follow standard normal growth
The study was carried out as an institute‑based curves in adolescents [Table 1]. The overall prevalence
(schools + polytechnic college) cross‑sectional study of overweight was 9.7% (240) and obesity was
among adolescents (aged 10–18 years). The study was 4.3% (105) among our study population (not presented
carried out from June 2014 to December 2014. Five in table). The overall prevalence of overweight/obesity
schools (1 urban private school, 1 urban government was 14% (345). There was no significant difference in
school, 1 rural private school, 2 rural government prevalence of overweight/obesity among males and
schools) were selected randomly to have equal females. In both males and females, the prevalence
distribution of students from the urban and rural was high among those who are in the age group of
regions, both government and private schools. Since 16–18 years when compared to the adolescents in the
the number of students in the rural government age group of 10–15 years [Table 2].
schools is less, two schools were included in order
to have equal distribution of students among various Table 1: Height and weight distribution of students
school types for comparison. In case of polytechnic based on gender
colleges (two), the students studying in each of Age Mean (SD)
the colleges were from the urban and as well as (in years) Male (N=1,310) Female (N=1,155)
rural regions. Hence, one private college and one Height Weight Height Weight
government college were selected. Minimum required (in cm) (in kg) (in cm) (in Kg)
10 139.17 (7.6) 29.13 (6.7) 137.76 (7.3) 31.05 (8.0)
sample size was calculated to be 2,458 based on the
11 139.37 (7.9) 29.68 (7.8) 138.79 (7.9) 30.50 (9.2)
prevalence of 14% from a study done in Karnataka,
12 143.68 (8.3) 33.18 (9.6) 145.67 (8.3) 34.68 (9.0)
South India.[4] The sample size was calculated with 13 149.54 (8.6) 36.50 (11.0) 150.56 (7.5) 39.94 (9.6)
a relative precision to 10% of prevalence, using the 14 156.22 (9.3) 42.77 (11.0) 153.17 (6.5) 42.44 (9.3)
formula Z2 PQ/d2. All the students of both genders 15 162.99 (8.6) 50.32 (13.7) 155.36 (7.3) 46.45 (11.6)
available during the time of examination in the 16 167.19 (6.9) 53.67 (12.7) 157.71 (5.6) 50.83 (12.9)
schools and institutions were included in the study. 17 169.71 (6.6) 56.51 (12.4) 157.88 (5.2) 50.86 (11.1)
The total number of students included in the study 18 169.86 (7.2) 56.50 (11.8) 157.86 (5.9) 51.43 (14.6)
was 2,465, of which 1,882 were from the schools SD: Standard deviation

and the remaining 583 were from the polytechnic

institutions. There were 1,310 (53.1%) male students Table 2: Distribution of children with overweight/
and 1,155 (46.9%) female students. Students who could obesity based on age and gender (N=2,465)
not be contacted after two visits to the institution were Age Overweight N (%) Obese N (%) Total overweight
planned to be excluded from the study; however, (in years) Boys Girls Boys Girls and obese
N (%)
we could recruit all the enrolled students with a
10 11 (7.7) 14 (10.6) 4 (2.8) 3 (2.3) 32 (11.7)
100% response rate. The heights of the students
11 14 (8.2) 8 (5.2) 8 (4.7) 3 (2.0) 33 (10.2)
were measured and rounded off to the nearest 12 28 (12.4) 15 (9) 5 (2.2) 3 (1.8) 51 (13)
centimeter and the weights of the students were 13 18 (9.0) 11 (5.9) 10 (5.0) 3 (1.6) 42 (10.9)
measured to the nearest 100 gm by the investigators. 14 22 (11.5) 15 (8.5) 10 (5.2) 3 (1.7) 50 (13.6)
Age‑ and gender‑specific body mass index (BMI) was 15 13 (12.0) 10 (16.9) 3 (2.8) 4 (6.8) 30 (18)
calculated using WHO Anthroplus software.[5] The 16 7 (16.7) 10 (19.6) 2 (4.8) 5 (9.8) 24 (25.8)
students were classified as “overweight” or “obese” 17 8 (8.6) 7 (6.8) 5 (5.4) 13 (12.6) 33 (16.8)
based on the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) 18 11 (8) 18 (14) 5 (3.6) 16 (12.4) 50 (18.8)
age‑ and gender‑specific BMI guidelines.[6] Data entry Total 345 (14)

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Prasad, et al.: Overweight and obesity among adolescent students

The prevalence of overweight and obesity were high adolescents (aged 12–18 years). It was also reported
among student who belonged to the schools of the in the same study that the prevalence of overweight
urban region (14.8%) and private schools (18.7%) was high among adolescent children who belonged
when compared to the students of the schools in the to higher socioeconomic class compared to those who
rural regions and government schools, respectively. belonged to the lower socioeconomic class. Laxmaiah
The overall prevalence of overweight and obesity et al., in a similar study conducted among adolescents
among early adolescents (aged 10–15 years) was in the age group of 12–17 years, reported a prevalence
observed to be 12.3% [Table 3]. as low as 7% during the year 2007.[8] It was observed by
George et al.[9] in a study done in Kerala among rural
The maximum prevalence of overweight and obesity adolescent children in the age group of 13–18 years
was observed in the urban private school (20%), that the  rates of prevalence of overweight and obesity
while the minimum prevalence of overweight and were 16% and 7%, respectively. The results of the
obesity was observed in the rural government studies discussed above show a higher prevalence
school (5.2%) [Figure 1]. when compared to our study. A higher prevalence
of about 15.8% was also reported from another study
The prevalence of overweight and obesity was by Ramachandran et al.[10] among urban adolescent
found to high among males in the younger age school children. Recent studies have shown increasing
group (10–14 years) when compared to females, trend of prevalence of overweight and obesity among
whereas among the students of older age group (15– adolescents.[11‑13] Goyal et al.[14] in a study among
18 years) the prevalence was observed to be higher adolescents in Surat city observed a prevalence
among female students as compared to their male of overweight and obesity as 6.55% and 13.9%
counterparts [Table 4]. respectively. Some of the determinants of overweight
and obesity found in the previous study were low
DISCUSSION physical activity, TV watching/computer games,
and junk foods. Similar association was also seen in a
The overall prevalence of overweight and obesity was
study done by Prasad et al.[15] in Hyderabad city among
found to be 14% among adolescents (aged 10–‑18 years)
adolescents. Also obesity and overweight is found to
from the present study. Also we observed a higher
be associated with body shape dissatisfaction among
prevalence of obesity among urban and private
adolescents that may further lead to low self‑esteem.[16]
school students. Goyal et al.[7] reported a similar
A multicomponent approach‑based intervention that
prevalence (12%) of overweight and obesity among
involves both school and home environments for the
prevention of obesity is advised.[17] In the present study,
Prevalence of Overweight/Obesity
it was observed that prevalence of overweight/obesity
25
20
20
17.2
was high among males in the younger age group,
Percentage

15 whereas in the older age group it was high among

10
9.8
females, this could possibly be explained by the
5.2
5 hormonal changes influencing growth during
0
Urban Private Rural Private Urban Government Rural Government
adolescence and puberty. Some of the strengths of
the present study are that it included students from
Figure 1: Distribution of overweight/obesity prevalence among both urban and rural region and students of private
students based on school type* (N = 1,882) *The difference in prevalence
of overweight/obesity among various school types was found to be and government institutions are included, hence
statistically significant (P < 0.001) the study results can be generalized. Also, standard

Table 3: Distribution of overweight and obese students based on type and location of schools (N=1,882)
Type and location Overweight/obesity N (%) Total P* Odds ratio
of school Present Absent N (%) (95% CI)
School location
Urban school 138 (14.8) 794 (85.2) 932 (100) 0.001 1.6 (1.12-2.1)
Rural school 94 (9.9) 856 (90.1) 950 (100)
Type of school
Private 154 (18.7) 668 (81.3) 822 (100) <0.001 2.9 (2.2-3.9)
Government 78 (7.4) 982 (92.6) 1,060 (100)
Total 232 (12.3) 1,650 (87.7) 1,882 (100)
*Chi‑square test was used to identify statistically significant difference in proportion and a P value of <0.05 was considered significant

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Prasad, et al.: Overweight and obesity among adolescent students

Table 4: Association between gender and Conflicts of interest

overweight with respect to age group (N=2,465) There are no conflicts of interest.
Age group Gender Overweight/obesity P*
Present Absent
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