Level of Overweight, Obesity and Associated Factors Among Preschool Children in Dire Dawa City, Eastern Ethiopia, 2016

Background: Obesity is accumulation of excess fat that have negative consequences on health. In 21st century overweight and obesity of children is becoming burning issue. About 42 million under five children are overweight and obese in 2013. Close to 31 million of these are living in developing countries. The objective of this study was to assess the level of overweight and obesity and associated factors among preschool children aged 3-5years in Dire Dawa city, Ethiopia, 2016. Methodology: A community based cross sectional study design was used from March 1-15 2016. Simple random sampling followed by systematic random sampling technique was used to select study participants. A pretested structured questionnaire was used to collect data from total samples of 627 preschool age children with their respective mothers or caretakers. Weight and height were measured using standardized and calibrated equipment. Finally Binary logistic regression analysis was done to identify factors associated with overweight and obesity. Level of statistical significance was declared at p- value less than 0.05. Results: The magnitude of overweight and obesity in the study area were 11.4% and 5.5% respectively. Female sex (AOR = 2.67, 95% CI: 1.13 - 6.32), Mother BMI (AOR = 16.5, 95% CI: 6.80 - 40.29, p value < 0.001) and Father Education (AOR =7.179, 95% CI: 1.06-48.6, p value <0.05) were among factors associated with preschool children overweight and obesity. Conclusion and Recommendation: The combined prevalence of overweight and obesity seen in this city is 16.9%. So as Government of Ethiopia continues in its fight towards reducing under nutrition, it should also expand or modify these efforts to include ways that may help prevent and reduce prevalence of overweight within the community. Keywords: Overweight, Obesity, preschool children, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia. DOI: 10.7176/JMPB/52-0