Prevalence of Obesity among the Adolescents in the Selected Urban and Rural Areas of Sivasagar District, Assam

Background: Over the past 3 decades, the prevalence of adolescent obesity has increased worldwide, and due to serious public health consequences, it was considered a global epidemic. Aim: to assess the prevalence of obesity among the adolescents in the selected Urban and Rural areas of Sivasagar District, Assam. Materials and methods: A cross sectional comparative research design was adopted for the study. Total 200 adolescents aged 13-19 years were selected as sample by multistage random sampling technique. WHO reference-2007 for BMI was used to determine the presence of obesity. Results: Prevalence of obesity among Urban and Rural adolescents were 6% and 2% respectively. No significant difference between the urban and rural prevalence rate were found at 0.05 level of significance. In Urban setting education of father, occupation of father, frequency of having fast food, type of school, participation in outdoor sports and in Rural setting, occupation of mother, monthly family income, type of school, and mode of transportation to school were significantly associated with prevalence of obesity among adolescents at 0.05 level of significance. Conclusions: The study emphasizes the need to develop pragmatic interventions both in individual and community levels to improve adolescents' dietary habits, physical activity and lifestyle to combat this growing public health concern.