[Obesity in adolescents. Results of Russian epidemiological trial].

AIM

To study prevalence of overweight and obesity among Russian 12-17 year-olds. MATERIAL AND METHODS; A total of 11977 adolescents (forms 6-11) from schools randomly selected for one-stage trial were examined. The protocol included filling in questionnaires, measurements of body mass, height, waste circumference. Overweight and obesity were verified by international BMI criteria regarding age and gender. Statistic processing was made with SPSS program package.

RESULTS

The analysis covered 10223 questionnaires (46.5% boys, 53.5% girls). Overweight was registered in 11.8%. Of them, 2.3% had obesity. Overall incidence of overweight and obesity in Russia among 12-17-year-old girls is 7.7 and 1.6%, among boys 8.7 and 2.5% cases, respectively. Both in girls and boys overweight is maximal in 12-13 years (15.5-12.1%), it goes down to 7.7% to 17 years. Obesity at the age of 12 years is recorded in 3.1% adolescents, at the age of 17 years--in 1.4%.

CONCLUSION

Sedentary life style and improper nutrition are leading causes of obesity in adolescence.