Prevalence of childhood obesity and overweight in Bangladesh: findings from a countrywide epidemiological study

Abstract

BackgroundObesity has been declared an epidemic in many high income countries. In low income countries, the coexistence of obesity and underweight makes the situation more grievous. The priority is to explore the overall pictures of body weight status in low income countries and countries that are in transitional phase. Through this country wide cross sectional study we would like to capture the current body weight status among the school aged children, both in urban and rural areas in Bangladesh.MethodsWe conducted a countrywide cross sectional study, from June to September 2009. By random sampling, we selected 10,135 students from 6 to 15 years from both the urban and rural schools. We categorized the students into overweight, obese and underweight by using the values for age and sex at +1SD, +2SD and −2 SD of Z scores of BMI respectively.ResultsWe observed among 6 to 15 year olds from both the urban and rural areas 3.5% were obese, 9.5% were overweight and 17.6% were underweight. The proportion of obese and overweight students were greater among the students from urban schools (5.6%, 10.6%) compared to the students from rural schools (1.2%, 8.6%) (RD = 4.3, 95% CI = 3.6, 5.0; RD = 2.0, 95% CI = 0.1, 3.1). The proportion of underweight students were lower in the urban schools (16.1%) compared to the rural schools (19.2%) (RD = −3.1; 95% CI = −4.6, −1.6)ConclusionsThe rate of obesity and overweight is alarming among school aged children in Bangladesh. Overweight and underweight are coexisting which needs special attention to minimize the dual burden.

Cardiovascular Disease in Bangladesh: A Review

“…(Bangladesh Heart Journal 2016; 31 (2) : [80][81][82][83][84][85][86][87][88][89][90][91][92][93][94][95][96][97][98][99] The exact prevalence of CVD in Bangladesh is not known. Probably the first attempt to determine the prevalence of heart disease was made by Malik et al in a survey amongst 7062 people of different age groups in Dacca City and in a village; the surgery revealed the prevalence of 2.92%.…”

“…A recent review showed an increasing trend in childhood obesity over time in Bangladesh; prevalence ranged from less than 1% to 17.9% based on different reference standards, with higher percentage amongst urban children. 84 In a recent countrywide cross sectional study, from June to September 2009 among 10,135 students of 6 to 15-year age group from both the urban and rural schools 85 , 3.5% were obese, 9.5% were overweight and 17.6% were underweight. The proportion of obese and overweight students were greater among the students from urban schools (5.6% and 10.6% respectively) compared to the students from rural schools (1.2% and 8.6% respectively) (Risk difference, RD = 4.3, 95% CI = 3.6, 5.0; RD = 2.0, 95% CI = 0.1, 3.1).…”

Childhood Obesity: Epidemiology, Determinants, and Prevention

“…However, data for overweight and obesity prevalence among children in different countries in South Asia are available: 25.0% among children from 2 to 15 years in Bangladesh and 22.0% among children from 5 to 19 years in India. Moreover, secular trends indicate increasing prevalence rates in these countries: for example, 9.8 to 11.7% among children from 5 to 19 years in India during 2006-2009 [4,5].…”

The thiol-disulfide homeostasis and its role in the pathogenesis of the experimental alimentary obesity

“…In general, 45 % of people of working age in Ukraine are obese. The latest investigation on epidemiology of alimentary obesity in Bangladesh indicate increasing of the incidence of this disease among school-age children in perspective will lead to the increasing in number of obese adults 5 . In Bangladesh, nearly 40 % of children < 5 years are suffering from malnutrition 6 .…”