Body weight/image perceptions and prevalence of obesity among adolescents-Kerala, India

Introduction: Obesity can be seen as the first wave of a defined cluster of non communicable diseases called New World Syndrome creating an enormous socioeconomic and public health burden in poorer countries. The rising prevalence of childhood/adolescent obesity cannot be addressed by a single etiology. Multiple factors plays role and among them perception on body weight and image plays vital role in adolescents. So the objective of this study was to know the perceptions of adolescents on their body weight and body image. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among students of high schools of Thiruvananthapuram city corporation, Kerala, India. The sample size of this study was 1718 and the technique adopted is multistage and stratified random sampling. Data was collected using pre designed and pretested semi-structured questionnaire which is self-administered. Body mass index was calculated based on physical measurements such as height and weight using standard methods. Results: This study revealed that 67.3% of study subjects underestimated their body weight and 15.5% over estimated their body weight. The prevalence of overweight/obesity is high among those who underestimated their body weight (18.7%) compared to subjects who overestimated (6.7%) but the prevalence of underweight is high among the subjects who overestimated their body weight (60.8%) compared to subjects who underestimated (22%). Conclusion: Schools are probably the ideal medium of intervention as they are central to children's lives and information can be relatively quickly dissipated through this channel and Helping adolescents to attain a realistic, positive perception of their body weight and image through health education.