The Prevalence of Obesity and it's Related Factors of High School Girls in the Large Cities

대도시 여고생의 비만실태와 식생활 양상에 관한 연구

This study was accomplished to investigate the prevalence of obesity and the factors related to obesity of high school girls in the large cities from May 20 to July 10 1990. In this study, three hundred eighty nine high school girls were chosen from high schools located in Seoul and Inchon. Anthropometry including weight, height, and skinfold thickness (triceps) were measured, and dietary intakes were calculated according to food composition tables. Means of the obesity index, food pattern, nutrients intakes were compared by Pearson's correlation coefficient. Nutrient intakes of the groups categorized by tricep skinfold thickness were compared by means of Duncan's multiple range test. Prevalence of obesity was 16.7%, 3.6%, and 20.8% by criteria of skinflod thickness, BMI, and Rohrer Index, respectively. Most of the subjects had three meals and took snacks two times per day 23.9% of the subjects were taking nutrient supplements of which vitamin supplement was the most popular. Food habit of subjects such as frequency of snack and bedtime meal were positively related to fatness. Nutrient intakes of the obese groups classified by tricep skinfold thickness, tended to consume more calories than another tricep category groups. Therefore, it could be concluded that prevalence of obesity in this subject was higher than the one for the past years, and it was more profound in girls who had a poor food habits and high calorie intakes. Thus, these results suggested that a good food habits and adequate nutrient intakes are essential to prevent the obesity of high school girls.