Overweight, Obesity and Dietary Factors among Adolescents in an Urban Community of West Bengal

Overweight and obesity are progressively important public health problems ot global significance. Obesity has reached epidemic proportions globally with more than one billion adults being overweight and atleast 300 million ot them clinically obese1. Problem of overweight and obesity is confined not only to adults but also to children and adolescents. Adolescents comprise about 20 per cent of the global population of which total 80 per cent live in the developing countries. In India, about 230 million which is calculated to be 23 per cent of the total population are adolescents. This stage of life is of great importance and development of obesity at this period may have adverse effect on their health. With urbanization and improvement of socio-economic status, diet high in carbohydrates is gradually replaced by a diet with a higher proportion of saturated fats and sugars. Fifty to 80 per cent of obese children will continue as obese adults and fall Into the risk group of diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart diseases and many more obesity related diseases. Complications of adult obesity are made worse if the obesity begins in childhood.