Prevalence of overweight and obesity in 2-5 year olds and its relationship with parental obesity

Background and Aim: The aim of the current study was to determine prevalence of obesity and overweight in 2-5 year olds and its association with parental obesity in Birjand. Materials and Methods: This descriptive - analytical study was conducted on five hundred2-5 year olds of Birjand kindergartens and their parents in 2009. Height, weight, and BMI of the subjects were measured using standard methods. In the children, BMI of 85-95 percentile were taken as overweight and BMI≥95 percentile for age and sex were accounted as obese .Regarding parents, BMI of 25 - 29 were considered as overweight and BMI≥30 as obesity. The obtained data was analyzed by means of SPSS software (V: 13) at the significant level of α=0.05. Results: Prevalence of obesity in children was 7.6% (6.3% in girls, 8.8% in boys) and that of overweight was 10.6% (11.7% in girls, 9.6% in boys). Out of all fathers and mothers, 44.2% and 30.2% were overweight, respectively and also 7.8% of fathers and 6.8 of mothers were obese. Prevalence of overweight and obesity in children of mothers with normal BMI were 15%, but in those having overweight and obese mothers it was 24%. This prevalence was 15.4% in children with normal BMI fathers and in children having overweight and obese fathers it was 20.8%. It was found that there was a significant positive association between children’s BMI and that of their parents (r=0.11, r=0.12, P