FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH OBESITY IN SCHOOL-CHILDREN

To investigate factors associated with the development of obesity in s chool children, the authors undertook a case-control study of 220 obes e and 220 non-obese children aged 6 to 18 years from Al Ain, United Ar ab Emirates between September 1992 to May 1993 inclusive. The inclusio n criterion for cases comprised children with body mass (Quetelet inde x) > 90th percentile of age-sex reference data of the French populatio n. Questionnaires were used to obtain information about socioeconomic status (SES), family history of obesity, related diseases and behavior al factors (smoking, physical activity and preferred diet). Anthropome tric measures (weight, height, waist and hip circumferences), systolic and diastolic blood pressure were measured. The waist/hip circumferen ce ratio was used as an index for body fat distribution. The logistic regression analysis showed that family history of obesity, diet, physi cal activity and mother education were significant factors for develop ment of obesity after adjusting for other confounding covariates. Neit her smoking nor SES showed apparent relation to obesity. Both systolic and diastolic blood pressure showed stronger correlation with the fat ness index, BMI, than with the fat distribution index, waist/hip ratio .