Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Childhood obesity rates have globally increased in the last five decade. It is well known that eating habits are a crucial contributing factor. Our study aimed to understand the impact of dietary habits on this global issue.

Methods: It was a comparative study including 50 obese children (G1) and 35 normal-weight children (G2) aged between 6 and 13 years old. Our study was conducted in the outpatient department of Bechir-Hamza Children’s Hospital of Tunis, Tunisia from December 26, 2016 to February 1, 2017. Obesity was determined by World Health Organization growth charts sex-specific Body Mass Index for age.

Results: The average age was 8.9±3 years for G1 and 8.1±3 years for G2 (P=0.22). G1 were mainly females (64%). We noted that G1 had significantly an earlier food diversification during the first year of life (5.11 months with a minimum of 2 months vs 5.8 with a minimum of 3, P=0.05). During childhood, the majority of participants had 3 meals per day (G1: 95% vs G2: 97%, P=0.86). Nevertheless, 60% of meals were consumed in front of TV for G1 vs 40% for G2 (P<0.01). Eating disorders were noted in G1 as following: 8% prandial hyperphagia, 26% binge-eating disorder, 26% night-eating syndrome and 28% bulimia. Furthermore, nearly all obese children (98%) reported the intake of snacks.

Conclusion: These findings highlight the importance of addressing not only the nutritional aspects but also the behavioral and psychological dimensions of eating habits to combat the increasing prevalence of childhood obesity.