Zeitschrift für Adipositas- und Gewichtsverlusttherapie

Abstrakt

Change in the Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity among School Children in Tebessa (Eastern Algeria) between 1995 and 2007

Salima Taleb, Hayet Oulamara and Abdel Nacer Agli

Background:The frequencies of the overweight and the obesity are in increase at the children in the world, what led the World Health Organization (WHO) to speak about real epidemic. The situation of Algeria is badly known until now. The main objective of the study was to esteem the distribution, in a population of children and teenagers schooled to Tébessa by the corpulence esteemed by the Body Mass Index (BMI).

Methods:All 4-13-year-old children attending public schools in the Commune of Tébessa were measured and weighed during a systematic health check at school from 1995 to 2007. BMI was calculated and plotted on standardized BMI for age tables, using the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) references.

Result: The frequency of the overweight and obesity according to the references of the IOTF was estimated at 11.37 p hundred between 1995 and 2007. This prevalence passed from 17.39 % in 1995 /98 to 8.49 % in 2005 /2007. The older children from 10 to 13 years are the only ones which presented an evolution during this period. The girls are touched by obesity than the boys. Conversely the boys are touched slightly by the overweight than the girls. A significant decrease or in the prevalence of overweight and obesity was observed during this period in both boys and girls.

Conclusion: These observations from Tébessa, showing a reduction in obesity and overweight in among the girls and boy. However, follow-ups of the stoutness of the children are useful in order to prevent this epidemic.