Prevalence and risk factors of overweight and obesity among 7-18 years old students in Hubei province

Objective To investigate the prevalence and major influencing factors of overweight and obesity among the children and adolescents aged 7 to 18 years in Hubei province.Methods Information on 11 740 (5 893 male and 5 847 female) primary or high school students aged 7 to 18 years in Hubei province were extracted from the dataset of National Students Physic Health Research Project-2014 and body mass index (BMI) of the students were calculated.Age,gender,and regional differences in the prevalence and overweight and obesity defined according the criteria of Working Group on Obesity in China (WGOC) were analyzed and main factors associated with overweight and obesity were assessed with logistic regression analysis.Results The prevalence rate of overweigh and obesity were 11.59%(1 361)and 5.73% (673) in the students;the boy students had significantly higher prevalence rate of overweight and obesity (15.29%901 and 7.77%458) than the girl students (7.87%460and 3.68%215)(both P<0.01);the urban students showed significantly higher prevalence rate of overweigh and obesity (13.78%798and 8.20%475) than the rural students (9.46%563and 3.33%198)(both P<0.01).The results of unconditional logistic regression analysis revealed that gender,age,family economic situation,and whether having the willingness to participate in a long distance run were influencing factors of overweight and obesity among the students after adjusting other factors.Conclusion The prevalence of overweight and obesity may be related to gender,age,living area,and physical exercises among children and adolescents in Hubei province.