Health and the Environment Journal, 2012, Vol. 3, No. 1 44 Socio-Demographic, Dietary and Physical Activity Determinants of Adolescents Overweight and Obesity in Kelantan Sakinah H a , Seong-Ting C a , Rosniza R b and Jayah KP b a Dietetic Programme, School of Health Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia Health Campus, 16150 Kubang Kerian, Kelantan. Malaysia. b Nursing Programme, School of Health Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Health Campus, 16150 Kubang Kerian, Kelantan. Malaysia. *Corresponding author email: sakinah@kck.usm.my Published 1 February 2012 _____________________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT: The increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity among adolescents in Malaysia has become a serious epidemic. The objective of this study was to determine the association between socio-demographic, dietary habits and physical activity risk factors with overweight and obesity prevalence. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 178 secondary school students aged 13 to 16 years old in Bachok district (n=88) and Kota Bharu district (n=90). A self-administered questionnaire on demographic, socio-economic status, dietary habits and physical activity information was used; standard anthropometric measurements: body weight, height and body mass index (BMI) were obtained. Results show that the mean BMI of the respondents was 21.04 ± 4.87 kg/m². The prevalence of overweight and obesity (30%) was greater among respondents from Kota Bharu district as compared to Bachok district. The mean household income of the respondents from Kota Bharu district was significantly greater than that of Bachok (p<0.05). Data also showed a significant association between students’ residence, household income, frequency of fast food consumption, breakfast skipping and physical activity with overweight and obesity prevalence (p<0.05). In conclusion these findings demonstrated the contributing factors towards body weight problems among the adolescents. This information is useful for the planning of health and nutrition programmes as well as intervention strategies to combat adolescent obesity. Keywords: Adolescent, overweight, obesity . Introduction The Malaysian population is increasing from year to year as reported by the Malaysian Department of Statistics. For instance the population was 26.1 million in 2004 and this number has increased to 27.2 million in 2007. Moy et al. (2004) showed that 20% of the Malaysian population comprised children and adolescents who aged between 5 to 20 years old. In United States, it was noticed that the increasing obesity rate in children was parallel with that of adults (Matthew et al., 2003). These trends are alarming because obese children tend to become obese adults. Note that childhood obesity is often associated with a plethora of psychosocial disorders and cardiovascular disease risk factors (Fagot et al., 2001; Freedman et al., 2001; Sinha et al., 2002). Upsurge in adolescent obesity could be explained by many related factors that influence energy intake or expenditure. The imbalance food intake which is high in fat and cholesterol but low in fiber content is