WORLD JOURNAL OF ADVANCE
HEALTHCARE RESEARCH

*Bahaa Mofeid Kadhem and Dr. Waleed Arif Tawfeeq

ABSTRACT

Background: More and more preschool children in Iraq and elsewhere are becoming overweight or obese. Many countries are now reporting a similar trend among preschool children. However, little information is available on the prevalence of overweight and obesity among preschool children in Iraq. In addition, available data are based on reported rather than measured height, weight, and BMI. Aims: To determine the prevalence of obesity/overweight among preschool children in private and governmental kindergartens at Hilla 2020. Methods and Material: cross sectional study. Measuring heights, weights, and BMI of a sample of children aged 2–5 years living in Babel “Hilla” Iraq in both private and governmental kindergartens, using a cross sectional design with applied quantitative research. The study was conducted for a period extended from Jan 2020 till Dec 2020. The total participants were 2148 parents and their 2-5 years old children selected from all kindergartens available. The data collected by using an adapted questionnaire and were analyzed electronically. Results: The prevalence of overweight and obesity in preschool kindergarten children was 14.8% and 5.9% respectively, the main factors that affect childhood obesity are family income and the presence of obesity in other family members. Conclusions: There is a high prevalence of obesity/overweight among 2-5 years old children with a noticeable difference regarding obesity/overweight prevalence between governmental and private kindergartens.

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