Abstract
Objectives. To assess the magnitude of overweight and obesity, and its associated socio-demographic factors in adolescents in Xi'an city, China. Methods. A total of 1804 adolescents attending junior high schools in Xi'an City (age: 11–17 years) were included in this cross-sectional study. Body mass index using IOTF cut-offs defined overweight and obesity. Socio-demographic information was collected from the parents of the survey participants using self-administered, structured and pre-coded questionnaires. Results. Overall, 16.3% of adolescents were overweight or obese, but there was a marked gender difference in the prevalence with 19.4% (95% CI: 15.6% – 23.7%) of boys versus 13.2% (95% CI: 10.0% – 16.4%) of the girls being overweight or obese. In a multivariate model, age, residence, household wealth, and parents’ body mass index were significantly associated with being overweight/obese (p <0.05). After adjusting for age and gender, the odds of an adolescent being overweight or obese was 2.7 times (95% CI: 1.8 – 4.0) higher in urban areas compared to rural areas; and 1.6 times (95% CI: 1.04 – 2.5) higher for adolescents from rich compared to poor families. An adolescent with one or both parents being overweight was 1.8 times (95% CI: 1.3 – 2.5) more likely to be overweight themselves compared to those with normal weight parents. Conclusions. 1) Overweight and obesity is a major public health problem in adolescents in Xi'an City and is likely to increase rapidly in the near future; 2) Overweight and obesity is more prevalent in younger boys from richer families living in urban districts and whose parents were either overweight or obese.
This research was supported by a Wellcome Trust Research Training Fellowship (066971/2/02/A). We thank Mr. Kingsley Agho for his statistical assistance, The Municipal Education Department in Xi'an for assistance in facilitating the data collection, and all the field workers for their contributions in the data collection.