Exploratory study on eating behavior and obesity of selected 912 years school-aged children in Metro Manila

Obesity has become a serious global public health problem. The International Obesity Task Force reported that approximately 155 million school-aged children are overweight or obese worldwide. In the Philippines, the growth of obesity is evident among public school students within Metro Manila. A child who is overweight and obese has the risk for chronic diseases. The study focuses on the behavioral factors eating habit, food intake and emotional pattern of eating among school-aged children. The study is a descriptive design. Participants consisted of 126 school-children aged 9-12 years who were recruited from a public elementary school in Metro Manila. Information was obtained from their parents using the Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire (CEBQ) which determines the eating behavior of the children. The school age children\u27s BMI, anthropometric measurements and biochemical examinations, including blood tests are also measured A total of 59 ( 46.8%) of the 126 children were overweight, 25 (19.8%) are obese, 9 (7.14%) are underweight while 7 (5.5%) fall within the normal weight According to the CEBQ test results among the participants were food responsiveness (mean 1.61, sd 0.91), emotional over-eating (mean 0.53, sd 0.71), enjoyment of food (mean 2.10, sd 0.83), desire to drink (mean 2.03, sd 0.89), satiety responsiveness (mean 2.32, sd 0.81), slowness in eating (mean 2.03, sd 0.86), emotional under-eating (mean 0.79, sd 0.75), food fussiness (mean 1.22, sd 0.76). Overall score of the CEBQ imply that overweight and obese school­aged children\u27s\u27 eating behaviors are poor, thus, these unhealthy lifestyle makes them at risk of a more health problems