Endocrine Abstracts

Objective: This study described overweight/obese children and adolescents seeking weight loss treatment regarding their age, gender, severity of obesity and maternal education in Rasht City, northern Iran.

Design: A descriptive study on overweight children and adolescents setting: the main clinic of obesity management in Rasht, northern Iran.

Subjects: Data on 1465 overweight/obese children and adolescents aged 2–18 years engaged in weight loss program were analyzed in this study. These data included age, sex, weight, height; self reported parental weight and height, history of dieting, and mother’s level of education.

Results: Overweight/obese girls engaged in weight loss program more than overweight/obese boys (71.2% vs 28.8% P< 0.0001). Only 3.2% of the children were in age group 2–6 years. These data showed that 18.2% of the overweight/obese children and adolescents were from families with low maternal education and the remainders were from families with high maternal education. Mean excess body weight was not different across educational levels although the boys were heavier than girls at. These findings showed that the maternal body weight was related to the child’s excess weight (r=0.26 P<0.0001).

Conclusion: These data suggest that parents of overweight/obese children and adolescents from low social level, boys and young children across all maternal educational levels should be warned against risk of their children’s accelerated growth.