This study was conducted on 585 children, 3 to 5 years of age, at five preschools in inner and suburban Hanoi, 287 children in the inner city and 298 children in the suburban area. Anthropometric methods, sociological methods and WHO standards were used to evaluate the children’s overweight/obesity status and investigate factors related to the overweight-obesity status of the children. | JOURNAL OF SCIENCE OF HNUE Chemical and Biological Sci. 2014 Vol. 59 No. 9 pp. 131-138 This paper is available online at http STUDY ON OVERWEIGHT-OBESITY STATUS AND RELATED FACTORS IN PRESCHOOL CHILDREN IN HANOI Nguyen Phuc Hung and Trinh Thi Van Faculty of Biology Hanoi National University of Education Abstract. This study was conducted on 585 children 3 to 5 years of age at five preschools in inner and suburban Hanoi 287 children in the inner city and 298 children in the suburban area. Anthropometric methods sociological methods and WHO standards were used to evaluate the children s overweight obesity status and investigate factors related to the overweight-obesity status of the children. It was found that of the children were overweight and were obese. The percentage of overweight-obese children in inner Hanoi was greater than that in suburban Hanoi. Factors related to the overweight-obesity status of children included nutrition physical activity and family economic status. Keywords Overweight obesity children preschool related factors. 1. Introduction In recent decades the percentage of overweight-obese OV-B children has increased rapidly to become a worldwide health issue. According to the World Health Organization WHO obesity is a challenge of the new millennium and is one of the four health problems facing human beings the four are HIV cancer obesity and drugs 1 . In 2005 20 million children worldwide under the age of 5 were overweight or obese. By 2011 this number rose to 42 million with nearly 35 million 83 living in developing countries 2 . In Vietnam the percentage of children who are OV-OB has been increasing rapidly 3 . In 2000 a survey revealed that 10 of elementary school children in Hanoi were OV-OB and 12 in Ho Chi Minh City were OV-OB 4 5 . In 2011 the percentage of OV-OB Vietnamese children across the country was found to be a 6-fold increase since 2000 6 . When so many very young children are OV-OB it is a .
