BOSNIAN JOURNAL OF BASIC MEDICAL SCIENCES 2010; 10 (2): 140-146

Abstract: e aims of the study were to estimate the prevalence of excessive weight in infants and school-age chil-dren in Sarajevo Canton, to isolate the main causative agents and to propose a strategy for its effi cient prevention.: e methods included anthropometry and originally designed questionnaire. Calculated body mass index was classifi ed according to the criteria proposed by Centre for Disease Control and Pre-vention (CDC).: e research included students from elementary and secondary schools from Sa-rajevo Canton. Nearly / of subjects had excessive body weight while , of students were malnour-ished. Elementary school lower graders had the highest grade of excessive weight, while the secondary school students exhibited the lowest grade of excessive weight. During school hours, about , of stu-dents were fed on bakery produces and snacks. Non-sparkling, thickened juices are frequently consumed beverages (,), second only to water (,). , of children consume sweets on daily basis.: is is even more prominent among secondary school students (,). Only / of students practice sports on daily basis, while , of them rarely engage in sports. Elementary school lower grade students had the lowest level of activity while the secondary school students were the most active. As many as , students spend two hours or more sitting by the computer or TV set.: e most signifi cant mediators of excessive weight gain are sedentary life-style, frequent consumption of sweets and thickened juices and unsuitable nutrition during school hours. Continuous preventive an