Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity in 7 to 18 Year-Old Children in Birjand/ Iran.

Objective: The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of overweight and obesity in 7 to 18-year-old children in Birjand (east Iran) in 2005-2006. Individuals selected using multistage stratified random sampling. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 6093 students (2995 boys and 3098 girls) aged 7-18 years in Birjand (2005-2006). Subjects were selected via step-wised random sampling in four districts of the city. Body weight and height were measured directly. Percentiles were calculated for body mass index (BMI) Overweight and obesity was defined based on the 85th and 95th percentiles of body mass index for age and sex, respectively, as proposed by CDC in 2000. Findings: The overall prevalence rates of overweight and obesity were 4.8% and 1.8%, respectively. Overweight prevalence varied by age from 1.6% to 9.1% in girls and 0.5% to 7.8% in boys, with obesity rate from 0.8% to 2.5% in girls and 0.5% to 3.7% in boys. Conclusion: According to this study, prevalence rate of overweight and obesity in Birjandi children is lower than that in many other parts of Iran and some neighboring countries.