A Comparative Study to Assess the Prevalence Rate of Obesity among School Children in A Selected Private and Government School, Salem

Abstract

A comparative study was done to assess the prevalence rate of obesity among school children in a selected
government and private school, Salem. A comparative research design was adopted among 200 school
children (100 Boys,100Girls) in the age group of 10 to 12 years who were selected by non probability
convenient sampling technique. A structured interview used for collecting demographic variable and
measured anthropometric measurements like Height, Weight & BMI calculation. Child categorized based
on BMI scoring total score was graded as According to CDC . The findings revealed that in government
school majority of children (48%) have normal BMI , 12% are obese, 30% are overweight and 10% are
under weight. In private school majority of children (58%) have normal BMI , 18% are obese, 4% are
overweight & 20% are under weight. Obesity was higher among children from private school (18%) than
from Government school (12%).