Evaluation of body mass index and related lifestyle factors among 14–17-year-old Turkish adolescents

OBJECTIVE: During adolescence, unhealthy body weight status is considered as a global concern as it may lead to adverse health consequences in adulthood, therefore evaluation of the risk factors is crucial. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of adolescents under the risk of being underweight, overweight, and obese among 14–17-year-old Turkish adolescents. In addition, we examined the association between unhealthy body weight categories and lifestyle factors.
METHODS: This study was designed as cross-sectional study which included body weight status and associated parameters of 1561 adolescents aged between 14 and 17 who were registered 25 different high schools in Istanbul, Uskudar. Height and body weight of participants were measured and related factors were obtained through a questionnaire. Differences in distributions were analyzed using the Chi-square test and to control confounding factors, multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed. As statistical significance limit of p<0.05 was determined.
RESULTS: Body mass index (BMI) percentile analyses indicated that 3.6% of participants were underweight, 14.3% were overweight, and 13.8% were obese. We demonstrated that age, gender, and school types were statistically very significantly associated with BMI (p<0.001) and daily meal frequency, eating speed, and mealtime regularity were significantly related with BMI (p<0.05). In addition, according to multivariate analysis results, gender and school types were closely related with obesity among 14–17-year old Turkish adolescents.
CONCLUSION: This study has been demonstrated that frequency of adolescent obesity in Istanbul, Turkey, has increased and obesity closely related to gender and type of school. Further educational and interventional studies should be organized in this region with consideration of relevant risk factors.

14-17 Yaþýndaki Türk Ergenlerde Beden Kütle Ýndeksi ve Ýliþkili Yaþam Tarzý Faktörlerinin Deðerlendirilmesi

AMAÇ: Ergenlik dönemindeki saðlýksýz vücut aðýrlýðý, yetiþkinlikte olumsuz saðlýk sonuçlarýna yol açabileceði için küresel bir sorun olarak görülmektedir. Bu nedenle bu duruma neden olan risk faktörlerinin deðerlendirilmesi çok önemlidir. Bu çalýþmanýn amacý, 14-17 yaþ arasý Türk ergenlerin beden kütle indeksini (BKÝ) belirleyerek, düþük kilolu, aþýrý kilolu ve obez olma riski altýndaki ergenlerin yaygýnlýðýný tespit etmektir. Ayrýca, saðlýksýz vücut aðýrlýðý kategorileri ile iliþkili yaþam tarzý faktörlerinin de belirlenmesi amaçlanmýþtýr.
YÖNTEM: Bu çalýþma, Ýstanbul Üsküdar'da yirmi beþ farklý liseye kayýtlý 14-17 yaþlarý arasýndaki 1561 ergenin vücut aðýrlýðýnýn durumu ve iliþkili parametrelerini içeren kesitsel bir çalýþma olarak tasarlanmýþtýr. Katýlýmcýlarýn boy ve vücut aðýrlýðý ölçülmüþ ve iliþkili faktörler anket yoluyla belirlenmiþtir. Daðýlýmlardaki farklýlýklar ki-kare testi kullanýlarak analiz edilmiþ ve þaþýrtýcý deðiþkenleri kontrol etmek için çok deðiþkenli lojistik regresyon analizi uygulanmýþtýr. Ýstatistiksel anlamlýlýk sýnýrý olarak p <0.05 belirlenmiþtir.
BULGULAR: BKÝ persentil analizleri katýlýmcýlarýn %3.6'sýnýn zayýf, %14.3'ünün fazla kilolu ve %13.8'inin obez olduðunu göstermiþtir. Yaþ, cinsiyet ve okul tiplerinin BKÝ ile istatistiksel olarak anlamlý derecede iliþkili olduðunu (p <0.001) ve günlük yemek sýklýðýnýn, yeme hýzýnýn ve yemek zamaný düzenliliðinin BKÝ ile anlamlý þekilde iliþkili olduðu belirlenmiþtir (p <0.05). Ek olarak, çok deðiþkenli analiz sonuçlarýna göre, cinsiyet ve okul tipinin, 14-17 yaþ arasý Türk ergenler arasýnda obezite ile yakýndan iliþkili olduðu saptanmýþtýr.
SONUÇ: Bu çalýþmada, Ýstanbul, Türkiye'de ergen obezite sýklýðýnýn arttýðýný ve obezitenin cinsiyet ve okul türüyle yakýndan iliþkili olduðu gösterilmiþtir. Ýliþkili risk faktörleri dikkate alýnarak bu bölgede ileri eðitimsel ve giriþimsel çalýþmalar yapýlmalýdýr. (NCI-2019-0085.R3)