Obesity among adolescents of urban and rural schools in Mangalore.

With a view to identify the occurrence of obesity and its related factors among adolescents of selected urban and rural schools. 1200 adolescents from selected high schools in Mangalore were recruited through multistage random sampling. A demographic Performa and a 5 point rating scale were used to assess the lifestyle practices. A significant difference in the occurrence of obesity was found among urban and rural children respectively ie. 31 (5.2%) and 13 (2.2%), Zeta cal value 2.640 > Zeta tab value 1.96). Occurrence of obesity was 50.43 times more among adolescents with poor / satisfactory lifestyle practices than with good / very good lifestyle practices. A significant association was found between obesity and variables like type of family (Chi2 cal = 3.994, p < 0.05), family history of obesity (Chi2 cal = 6.168, p < 0.05), and family income (Chi2 cal = 4.123, p < 0.05) in rural adolescents and between obesity and family history of obesity (Chi2 cal = 8.492, p < 0.05) and family income (p = 0.042, p < 0.05) in urban adolescents. Adolescent obesity is an emerging health problem and there is need for creating awareness among parents, teachers as well as children regarding safe dietary habits and active life style.