Risk factors and the incidence of overweight and obesity in pre-school children from the southern part of Poland

Katarzyna Dereń
ID
Email src
Sara Jarmakiewicz
ID
Email src
Aneta Sokal
ID
Edyta Łuszczki
ID
Elżbieta Motyka
ID
Justyna Wyszyńska
ID
Email src
Regina Kowal
Artur Mazur
ID
Email src
Institute of Health Sciences, College of Medical Sciences, University of Rzeszów, Poland
Medical College of Rzeszów University, Rzeszów, Poland
Medical Department, University of Rzeszów, Rzeszow, Poland
Medical Department, University of Rzeszów, Rzeszow, Poland
Medical Department, University of Rzeszów, Rzeszow, Poland
Medical Faculty, University of Rzeszów, Rzeszów, Poland
Medical Department, University of Rzeszów, Rzeszow, Poland
Departament Paediatrics, Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes, Institute of Medical Sciences, Medical College of Rzeszow University, Rzeszow, Poland
Received: 30 March 2018 / Accepted: 13 May 2018 / Published: 30 June 2018

Abstract

Introduction. In recent years there has been a significant increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity in humans. It turns out that the problem is not limited to adults; excessive body weight is occurring in children more often.

Aim. The main purpose of this work was to determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity in preschool children from the Rzeszów district, and to determine risk factors for occurrence.

Material and methods. The study was conducted among 200 preschool children (3 - 6 years of age) from the Rzeszów poviat area. Measurements of height, weight, and determination of BMI were performed and these values are standardized according to the WHO centile grids appropriate for each age group.

Results. Normal weight was observed in 58% of the respondents, 11% were overweight, and 10.5% were obese, whereas 20.5% of children had undernourishment. Obese children were the largest group among 6-year-olds. Among 4 year old children, abnormal body weight were more frequent in boys. On the other hand, in children aged 5 years, undernourishment or overweight was found more frequently in girls.

Conclusion. The study did not confirm a significant relationship between gender, place of residence and socio-economic situation of respondents, and the prevalence of overweight or obesity. The results of this study indicate that the problem of excessive body weight refers to the increasing number of children.

 

Cite

Dereń K, Jarmakiewicz S, Sokal A, et al. Risk factors and the incidence of overweight and obesity in pre-school children from the southern part of Poland. Eur J Clin Exp Med. 2018;16(2):97–102. doi: 10.15584/ejcem.2018.2.3

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited