A cross-sectional study to determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity among Bangladeshi adolescents based on WHO, IOTF, and CDC cut-points

Abstract Aim The rising trend of overweight and obesity in adolescents is not only limited to high-income countries, and it’s also increasing in many low to middle-income countries in recent years. This study was designed to estimate the prevalence of overweight and obesity in a representative sample of Bangladeshi adolescents. Methods A total of 825 adolescents (boys 62.3% and girls 37.7%), aged 14-19 years were selected using a multi-stage sampling technique from representative study subjects in Noakhali city from December 2016 to November 2017. The World Health Organization (WHO), the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF), and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are the three sets of body mass index (BMI) cut-points were used to determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity among adolescents. Results The estimated combined prevalence of overweight/obesity was higher in boys (20.43%) compared to girls (7.71%) based on the WHO cut-points. According to the IOTF and CDC cut-points, the calculated combined prevalence of overweight/obesity was also higher in boys 14.79% vs. 6.71%, 16.54% vs. 6.11% respectively in contrast to girls. The results of this study significantly revealed that about 3.17-fold higher risk of being overweight (OR = 3.17; 95% CI = 1.77−5.66, p Conclusion Further study and public health efforts might be essential to address complications of the obesity problem and to promote active lifestyles with dietary guidelines.