Assessment of Proportion of Overweight and Obesity among Under Five Children: A Cross Sectional Study in Burdwan Medical College Immunization Clinic, West Bengal

Background: Obesity is a huge concern and a significant lifestyle-related public health issue worldwide. The objective of study was to calculate the percentage of overweight and obese children among under five who attended the Burdwan Medical College immunization clinic in the study period, as well as enumerate the risk factors associated with it. Materials and Methods: An institution based descriptive type cross sectional study was conducted in the immunization clinic of Burdwan Medical College from 1st February to 1st March 2024.Final data was collected from 68 subjects. Interviews were taken from the parents or the primary attendants of those 68 children with an objective to estimate the proportion of childhood overweight and obesity and to determine its correlates. A pretested, pre designed questionnaire was used to collect the data regarding socio-demographic characteristics, physical activity, dietary intake pattern and anthropometric measurements. Analysis was done by collecting data in MS Excel and by using descriptive and statistical tools to represent the data. Results: More than half of the study subjects are from the 0-2 year’s age group and are male. Majority of the study subjects follow Hinduism, belong to upper and upper middle class family and nuclear family. One-third (36.20%) of the attendants are graduates. Most of the study subjects take meals more than four times a day. Greater parts of the study subjects were exclusively breastfed, delivered in caesarean section and were fully immunized. By plotting the data of height and weight of the study subjects on the WHO growth chart, the result was as follows: 7.35% (5 out of 68) of the children were in the category of overweight. Out of this, 3 out of 45 boys and 2 out of 23 girls were found to be overweight. No children among the study subjects were found to be obese. Conclusion: The study results suggest that overweight children are present even at this early age with no significant gender disparity. The results point towards early dietary habits and socio-economic factors playing a role in childhood overweight status. This study underlines the importance of early monitoring and intervention to prevent further progression into obesity, which could lead to long-term health issues.