Hussien AE. Overweight and Obesity Among Primary School Children in Misurata City-Libya: Prevalence and Associated Risk Factors. Int J Pediat Health Care Adv. 2018;5(2):74- 78. 74 OPEN ACCESS http://scidoc.org/IJPA.php International Journal of Pediatric Health Care & Advancements (IJPA) ISSN 2572-7354 Overweight and Obesity Among Primary School Children in Misurata City-Libya: Prevalence and Associated Risk Factors Research Article Hussien AE * Lecturer, Department of Community and Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Misurata University, Libya. Introduction The prevalence of obesity is increasing worldwide at an alarming rate in both developed and developing countries [1]. The current lack of consistency and agreement among different studies in the classiication of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents makes it dificult to give an overview of the global prevalence of overweight and obesity in young age groups. Nevertheless, irrespective of the classiication system used, most studies of overweight and obesity during childhood and adolescence have reported that the prevalence of both has increased. Generally, excessive body weight during childhood inluences the development of coronary heart disease, hypertension and stroke, type 2 diabetes mellitus, certain types of cancer, and other diseases in adulthood [2]. Life expectancy in developing countries has increased; however, the possibility of improving it will depend not only on a decrease in infant mortality, but also on a decrease in chronic non-transmissible diseases associated with premature mortality [3]. A decrease in the prevalence of overweight and obesity early in life could contribute towards achieving this goal. As widely demonstrated [1], it is possible to reduce the proportion of deaths due to chronic disease, and furthermore, prevent the occurrence of new cases by applying strategies directed to the modiication of Lifestyle risk factors. Because of their public health importance, excessive body weight and obesity in childhood should be closely monitored. This offers the best hope for preventing progression of the disease and its associated morbidities in adulthood. The objective of the study was to evaluate the prevalence of overweight and obesity and associated risk factors in primary school children in Misurata city, Libya. Methods Subjects and sample size A Cross sectional study was conducted during the months of January and February, 2006 in Misurata city, Libya, on local primary schools (6-11 years old). Multistage cluster random sampling design was adopted. First clusters sample were obtained by drawing a simple random sample of congresses in Misurata city, two congresses were chosen from the center (Dat alremal and Shohadaa armylha) and three congresses were chosen from Abstract Obesity is currently an escalating epidemic that affects many countries in the world where this condition is responsible for increasing death rates annually. This study was performed to ind out the prevalence of overweight and obesity and associ- ated risk factors in primary school children in Misurata city, Libya. Height and weight were measured in a sample of 1000 child aged between 6-11 years. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated for each child. Children were categorized according to age and speciic percentile of BMI using 2000 CDC BMI - age growth charts. Information on possible risk factors was collected by questionnaire. The results showed that the prevalence of overweight and obesity 15.8% and 12.4% respectively. Viewing TV more than 2 hrs/day, physical exercise, child order and parent obesity were associated with overweight and obesity. In conclusion, prevalence of overweight and obesity primary school children in Misurata, Libya is high and aggres- sive preventive strategies should be implemented. Keywords: Childhood Obesity; Risk Factors; Overweight; Primary School. *Corresponding Author: Hussien A. Elaswdi, Lecturer, Department of Community and Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Misurata University, Libya. Tel: 00218913783835 E-mail: hpharmacy92@yahoo.co.uk Received: February 14, 2018 Accepted: March 09, 2018 Published: March 12, 2018 Citation: Hussien AE. Overweight and Obesity Among Primary School Children in Misurata City-Libya: Prevalence and Associated Risk Factors. Int J Pediat Health Care Adv. 2018;5(2):74- 78. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.19070/2572-7354-1800020 Copyright: Hussien AE © 2018. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.