Comparison of the proportion of overweight and obesity using 2015 Indian Academy of Pediatrics and WHO body mass index charts among 5-18 years old children attending a tertiary care centre in South Kerala

Background: Childhood obesity is associated with impaired health during childhood and it is a risk factor for later adult diseases if left untreated. There is a rising trend of over nutrition in developing countries including India. Hence the present study has been envisaged to estimate the proportion of overweight/obesity among 5-18 years old children of a tertiary care centre in South Kerala. The objective of this study was to compare the proportion of overweight and obesity using 2015 Indian Academy of Paediatrics and WHO BMI charts among 5-18 years old children attending a tertiary care centre in South Kerala.Methods: After getting ethical committee clearance this cross-sectional study was conducted among children between 5 and 18 years of age in the department of paediatrics of a tertiary care centre in South Kerala, during the period between August 2018-October 2020. The BMI was plotted and analysed with appropriate software.Results: Among the 250 children the proportion of obesity and overweight was 88 (35.2%) by IAP standards, 63 (25.2%) by WHO standards. The highest proportion of obesity was found in children aged between 7-8.5 years 17 (38.6%). There was a statistically significant association between age and BMI status (p value<0.001).Conclusions: IAP BMI standards are more suitable for Indian children to identify the proportion of overweight and obesity than WHO standards. Also, this study alerts us to concentrate more on the age group between 7-10.5 years for early prevention of childhood obesity and overweight.