Evaluation of Obesity Risk among the Students of Vigan city, Philippines using Risk Indices

Background: Overweight is one of the most prominent risk factors for obesity in increasing mortality and morbidity among all age groups. Students are more prone to obesity due to lifestyle with less physical activity and disordered eating habits and thereby are prone to obesity-related health hazards. Aim of the study was to identify the risk and its causes. Methods: Risk assessment was carried out through as study poll towards estimating the probability of obesity across 28 causative factors. Stratified random sampling and Slovin’s formula was used to determine the respondents. An innovative approach for computing obesity risk indices was developed based on the responses obtained from the given questionnaire. Results: The study resulted with 47.64% of students exposed to obesity risk and further sub-divided into three critical variables as 24.22% risk in behavioural factors, 15.85% risk in environmental factors and 7.57 % risk in societal factors. Conclusion: Increased stress level, refraining from rest with no enough sleep and parental gene or innate nature contributes to the risk of obesity among the population. Stress leads to irregularity in diet, lack of exercise and addiction, each being considered as an independent factor as a cause of obesity. Students with overweight/obese parents or relatives tend to gain weight quickly, which contributes to the number of calories people eat and burn up. The impact of inadequate sleep and improper eating time leads to the secretion of the signal hormone ghrelin that increases appetite and leptin, which indicates the satiety state of the body.