PREVALENCE AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS OF OVERWEIGHT/OBESITY AMONG SCHOOL ADOLESCENTS IN BUTAJIRA, SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA, 2023; CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Abstract

Background: - Adolescence is a pivotal period of development which represents the age between 10- 19 years. Adolescent`s accounts about one fourth (25.1%) of the total world’s population, in which majority of them lives in developing countries. Objective: -To assess the magnitude of overweight and associated factors among school adolescents in Butajira town.Methods:-A school-based cross-sectional study design was conducted among 408 students, from May to June 2023. A multi-stage and simple random sampling technique with proportional allocation was applied. A Pretested structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Data were entered intoEpi-Data 3.1 Software and analysis was done using SPSS version 25 software. Result:-In this study the prevalence of overweight in the study participants was 8.8 % and the prevalence ofobesity was 1% based on BMI- for -age classification. Students who watch TV for 4 or more hours per day were 4.5 times more likely to become overweight as compared to Students who watch TV for less than four hours per day [AOR = 4.5 (95% CI = 1.64–12.5), P = 0.004]. The odds of overweight 4.1 times higher among students who use sweat foods than who did not use sweat foods [AOR = 4.1 (95% CI = 1.64–10.30), P = 0.003]. Conclusion and recommendation:- Prevalence of overweight/obesity among Butajira town school adolescent was high. Waching TV for four or more hours per day, students who using sweet foods and soft drinks more than two times and poor knowledge about overweight were significantly associated with overweight/obesity. There needs to implement evidence-based school nutrition educational death programs to timely taking action to limit obesity-related health problems.