Study on prevalence of obesity in urban and rural adolescents in Odisha: Implications for public health strategies

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Original Article

Author Details : Manoj Kar*, Sasmita Behera

Volume : 8, Issue : 2, Year : 2021

Article Page : 65-69

https://doi.org/10.18231/j.jchm.2021.015

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Abstract

Obesity and overweight have become a worldwide public health challenge and there is an urgent need to examine prevalence of obesity among adolescents. The aim of the present research is to determine health status with respect to obesity of urban & rural adolescents. The data were derived from cross-sectional sampling of adolescent boys and girls of urban and rural population. Age, gender and body mass Index was used to define overweight and obesity. The overweight and obesity were considered using an updated body mass index reference based on the revised consensus guidelines for India. It is observed that the average height and weight, physical growth of adolescents of urban area is greater than that of rural area irrespective of their gender. The BMI (Body Mass Index) of urban adolescents are more than their counterparts in rural area, but the mean BMI of rural and urban adolescents are significantly different. On the other hand BMI do not show any variation due to gender, area and gender considered together. Most of the adolescents irrespective of their area of residence, in spite of their long hours of sedentary behavior are falling under normal category. The result showed physical activities did influence change in BMI, which has a strong independent association with family history of obesity in both rural and urban adolescents. This study analysis showed an increase in prevalence of overweight and obesity in urban adolescents especially with male gender, calling for an urgent need for targeted preventive measures targeting undernutrition and overweight involving public health nutrition interventions for healthy public policies and implementation of equitable nutrition interventions for optimizing public health outcomes for those populations in greater need.

Keywords: Overweight, Obesity, Body mass index, Gender, Adolescent, Public health nutrition and health policy.

How to cite : Kar M, Behera S, Study on prevalence of obesity in urban and rural adolescents in Odisha: Implications for public health strategies. J Community Health Manag 2021;8(2):65-69

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