Baku, Azerbaijan| 211 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL of ACADEMIC RESEARCH Vol. 5. No. 5. September, 2013 Fatma I. Kerkez, V. Tutal, F. Akcinar. Malnutrition / obesity prevalence in children between the ages 3 and 6 and mother - child BMI relation. International Journal of Academic Research Part A; 2013; 5(5), 211-214. DOI: 10.7813/2075-4124.2013/5-5/A.30 MALNUTRITION / OBESITY PREVALENCE IN CHILDREN BETWEEN THE AGES 3 AND 6 AND MOTHER - CHILD BMI RELATION Fatma Ilker Kerkez*, Varol Tutal, Faruk Akcinar Inonu University, School of Physical Education and Sports, Malatya (TURKEY) *Corresponding author: fatma.kerkez@inonu.edu.tr DOI: 10.7813/2075-4124.2013/5-5/A.30 ABSTRACT This study was conducted to determine malnutrition/obesity prevalence among children between the ages of 3 and 6 and the mother and child BMI relation. 675 children registered in preschool institutions (11 different preschool institutions) (311 female and 346 male students) and their mothers participated in the study. Body weight and height of the participants were measured and Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated, BMI was classified for mothers according 2004 reference values of WHO whereas it was classified by age and gender according CDC 2000 growth scale. It was determined in the study that 14.2% of the children were thin, 10.2% of the children were risky fat and 8.2% of children were obese whereas 1.5% of the mothers were thin, 38.5% of the mothers were risky fat and 16.9% of the mothers were obese. Obesity prevalence is higher among boys than the girls. Positively significant correlations were determined between BMI of children and mothers (p <0.01). In conclusion, diathesis in children between the ages 3 and 6 is a health problem and it is related to BMI of children and mothers. Obesity and diathesis should be fought against simultaneously in the developing countries. Weight and nutrition of the mother should be monitored starting from the pregnancy period and the child's health should be ensured by providing healthy nutrition habits and possibilities. Key words: Diathesis, Obesity, Ages 3-6, BMI, Mother 1. INTRODUCTION While fatness or obesity is defined as excess fat accumulation of the body, which may cause a health risk, (WHO, 2004) diathesis means BMI being lower than the normal values depending on poor nutrition. Poor nutrition is a cellular imbalance between sustenance of the life and the energy and nutrition elements, which are the body's requirements for unique functions, (TOCBI, 2011) and it is an important factor that may cause health risk in children just as obesity does. Obesity is considered as a common health problem throughout the world starting in the early childhood (Larson and Story, 2007; Rossem et al., 2010). It is seen that obesity is in a positively relation with urbanization, income, education and other socio-economic factors in developing countries (Suzek, 2005). In addition to that, in many studies in which factors regarding mother and child in terms of fatness and obesity during childhood were studied, it was determined that there is direct relationship between ethnicity, race, pregnancy weight gain, weight gain situation during pregnancy, smoking habits and breastfeeding period of the mother and obesity (Oken et al., 2007; Chen et al., 2006, Harder et al., 2005; Salsberry et al., 2005; Welch et al., 2008; Gillman et al., 2008; Toschke et al., 2005; Kitsantas and Gaffney, 2010). Another factor effecting childhood age fatness is parents’ being fat as well (Jiang et al., 2006). Nutrition, physical activity and behavioral changes regarding sedentary lifestyle play roles in preventing the childhood obesity. Important correlations were determined between children's BMIs and parents' BMIs in the studies that were conducted and it was specified that these correlations increased with the age of children (Livingstone, 2000; Danielzik et al., 2002; Gahagan, 2004; Yabanci et al., 2009). According socio-ecological models (Bartholomew et al., 2006; Elder) the experiences regarding obesity are affected by close (such as the effect of family) and far (physical activity facilities) factors. On the contrary, even if obesity came to the foreground, malnutrition is still a problem especially in the developing countries in spite of the fight that is being given. Malnutrition causes 35% of the death of children younger than 5 throughout the world (Black et al., 2008; Navarro et al., 2011). For the surviving children short stature, education and learning difficulties, low economic efficiency in adulthood and low birth weight in women can be observed in relation to malnutrition (Victora et al., 2008). It is seen that obesity was studied in Turkey more in school age and teenage period and the obesity during early childhood was neglected. According to the report form a research project conducted in 2011 (TOCBI, 2011), it was determined that the prevalence of fatness and diathesis in children between the ages 6 and 10 in Turkey was similar and slight fatness/overweight problems were also important for children. Diathesis and obesity prevalence among children between the ages of 3 and 6 and mother - child BMI relation was studied in this study.