Child obesity in regional Greece, and assessment of its risk factors

OBJECTIVE & UTau;o capture the prevalence of childhood obesity and to assess its risk factors, in the area covered by the Preveza Health Unit of the Primary National Health Network (PEDY). METHOD For data collection, a 26-item ques-tionnaire was administered by personal interview with the parents of 190 primary schoolchildren, aged 6-12 years. The height and weight of the children were measured by the researcher, and their body mass index (BMI) was cal-culated. RESULTS In this population of primary schoolchildren, the prevalence of overweight was 22.1% and obe-sity 10.5%. An increase in overweight and obesity was observed at 6-10 years and a difference between the sexes was apparent, with higher rates of overweight and obesity in boys. In the assessment of risk factors, parental over-weight and obesity was observed in their mothers (31% and 10%, respectively) and their fathers (53.7% and 26.4%, respectively). Adherence to the Mediterranean diet was observed by 43.2% of the families, and consumption was not particularly high of sugary carbonated-beverages (11.5%) or food from outside the home (1.6%). Most parents reported that they bought quality food for their children (48.9%), cooked daily at home (86.8%), and a few times a week (55.8%) bought food from outside. A higher percentage of overweight and obese children (50%) was observed in families with an income between 10,000-20,000 euro . The mother's level of education did not appear to affect the body mass index (BMI), but both parents working were associated with obesity in their child (70%). Out of school physical activity of more than 7 hours per week was at a low rate (12.6%), and the use of television and computer for more than two hours per day was at a rate of 22.6%. Participation of parents in health education-promotion pro-grams was low, and especially in health services (4.7%). CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of childhood obesity in the area covered by the Health Unit of Preveza does not differ significantly from that documented in other areas in pre-vious studies, but as the rate shows a general increase, the phenomenon is considered worrying. The promotion of healthy dietary behavior within the model of the Mediterranean diet and increased physical activity for schoolchil-dren, accompanied by the constant effort for provision of relevant information, especially by the health services, is considered necessary to prevent this trend.