The Current Prevalence of Underweight, Overweight, and Obesity Associated with Demographic Factors among Pakistan School-Aged Children and Adolescents—An Empirical Cross-Sectional Study

Moazzam Tanveer (), Andreas Hohmann, Nadeem Roy, Asifa Zeba, Umar Tanveer and Maximilian Siener
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Moazzam Tanveer: School of Physical Education and Sport Training, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai 200438, China
Andreas Hohmann: Department of Training and Movement Science, BaySpo—Bayreuth Center of Sport Science, University of Bayreuth, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany
Nadeem Roy: School of Physical Education, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China
Asifa Zeba: Department of Education, International Islamic University, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
Umar Tanveer: Department of Mass Communication, University of Lahore, Lahore 54000, Pakistan
Maximilian Siener: Department of Training and Movement Science, BaySpo—Bayreuth Center of Sport Science, University of Bayreuth, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 18, 1-15

Abstract: Purpose: This study investigated the most recent estimates of underweight, overweight, and obesity prevalence in Pakistani school-aged children and adolescents. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a convenience random clustered sampling approach with 3,551 Pakistani school children aged 9 to 17 years from 52 schools throughout seven districts in central Punjab province. The CDC US 2000 was used to define underweight (BMI < 5th percentile), overweight (85th ≤ BMI < 95th percentile), and obesity (95th percentile ≤ BMI) for different school grade cohorts (primary, middle, secondary, and higher secondary schools). As a trend test, the Chi-square test was used. A Spearman correlation analysis ( r ) was used to determine the correlations between demographic variables and weight status. A regression analysis was conducted to explore the predictive power of demographic factors in relation to body weight. Results: In Pakistani school-aged children and adolescents, the prevalence of underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obesity was 21.9%, 66.9%, 5.8%, and 5.4%, respectively. Significant correlations with body weight status were shown for individual demographic parameters (age, gender, school type, and school grade). Children in urban areas were more likely to be underweight, overweight, or obese than those in rural areas. Boys were found to have a lower BMI than girls. Accordingly, more boys than girls were underweight (odds ratio (OR) = 1.57, 95% CI: 1.33–1.85) and more girls had a higher risk of obesity than boys (OR = 1.39, 95% CI: 1.03–1.86). Lower grades showed more underweight (OR = 1.66, 95% CI: 1.39–1.99) whereas higher grades showed a higher risk of obesity (OR = 1.91, 95% CI: 1.41–2.57). Conclusions: In Pakistani school-aged children and adolescents, underweight, overweight, and obesity were prevalent. Compared with studies from 2011, the risk of overweight and obesity in Pakistan has decreased. However, this may also be due to the fact that students in Pakistan have a lower BMI compared to other countries. This issue has also been seen in the present study and is confirmed here by the high number of cases of underweight students. Future research studies should look into additional weight status correlates and factors. To evaluate the association between weight status and behavioral and other health variables, future research should use longitudinal or interventional designs.

Keywords: body weight status; demographics; Pakistan; children; adolescents; body mass index (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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