Factors associated with obesity in school children

To investigate factors associated with the development of obesity in school children, the authors undertook a case-control study of 220 obese and 220 non-obese children aged 6 to 18 years from Al Ain, United Arab Emirates between September 1992 to May 1993 inclusive. The inclusion criterion for cases comprised children with body mass (Quetelet index) > 90th percentile of age-sex reference data of the French population. Questionnaires were used to obtain information about socioeconomic status (SES), family history of obesity, related diseases and behavioral factors (smoking, physical activity and preferred diet). Anthropometric measures (weight, height, waist and hip circumferences), systolic and diastolic blood pressure were measured. The waist/hip circumference ratio was used as an index for body fat distribution. The logistic regression analysis showed that family history of obesity, diet, physical activity and mother education were significant factors for development of obesity after adjusting for other confounding covariates. Neither smoking nor SES showed apparent relation to obesity. Both systolic and diastolic blood pressure showed stronger correlation with the fatness index, BMI, than with the fat distribution index, waist/hip ratio.