Abstract:

Objective To investigate the correlation of children´s behaviors and parental overweight with obesity of children aged 7 to 9 so as to provide information for the control of childhood obesity. Methods A total of 2 533 students of grade two and three were randomly selected from 9 primary schools in one urban district and one rural district in Shanghai by stratified clustering sampling methods. Physical examinations were carried out, and students were asked to fulfill the questionnaire on behaviors, exercises and diet. The prevalence of obesity and prevalence rates of obesity stratified by age, gender and district were calculated. The risk factors for childhood obesity were preliminarily screened after analysis of behaviors, exercises and diet, and Logistic regression analysis was conducted for further determination of risk factors for childhood obesity. Results The prevalence of overweight in children of this study was 34.14%, and the prevalence of obesity was 18.00%. The prevalence of obesity in boys (22.89%) was higher than that in girls (13.21%)(P<0.01), and the prevalence of obesity in children living in urban area (21.62%) was higher than that of children living in rural area (15.18%)(P<0.01). There was no significant difference in the prevalence of obesity stratified by age. Logistic regression analysis revealed that good appetite, having meals fast, short sleeping duration, watching television for long duration, preferring meat and poultry to fish and prawns, and parental overweight were the risk factors for childhood obesity. Conclusion The prevalence of obesity in children aged 7 to 9 in Shanghai is high. Children´s behaviors, diet, exercises and parental overweight are associated with childhood obesity, which may be the risk factors for childhood obesity. Childhood obesity should be controlled by health education and obesity intervention.

Key words: children, obesity, prevalence, risk factor