Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jan;14(1):283-289.
doi: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_967_24. Epub 2025 Jan 13.

Central obesity is a burden even in normal weight adolescents of a non-metropolitan Indian City: A case for alarm and action for prevention and control

Tabassum Nawab  1 , Zulfia Khan  1 , Iqbal M Khan  1 , Mohammad A Ansari  1
Affiliations

Central obesity is a burden even in normal weight adolescents of a non-metropolitan Indian City: A case for alarm and action for prevention and control

Tabassum Nawab et al. J Family Med Prim Care. 2025 Jan.

Abstract

Introduction: Central obesity (CO) leads to increased cardiovascular and metabolic risks in children and adolescents. The evidence on prevalence of central obesity and its correlates are lacking among adolescents in India.

Objectives: (1) To estimate the prevalence of central obesity in school-going adolescents, (2) To determine the association between central obesity and generalized obesity (GO) among adolescents, and (3) To determine the correlates of central obesity.

Methods: Totally, 660 adolescents, selected using systematic random sampling, in four urban schools in Aligarh were interviewed using pre-designed questionnaire and Global Physical Activity Questionnaire. Height, weight, and waist circumference (WC) were measured. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated. CO was defined as >90th age-and-sex-specific percentile of WC and GO by BMI-for-age-and-sex percentiles given by WHO Growth Reference 2007. Chi-square test and logistic regression analysis were done using IBM SPSS version 20.0.

Results: Overall prevalence of central obesity was found to be 28.5% [CI: 25.2-32.0], almost double of generalized obesity (14.6%, 95%CI: 12.1-17.6). The prevalence was significantly higher among girls (33.6%, 95%CI: 28.3-39.3) than in boys (24.7%, 95%CI: 20.7-29.3) and in the affluent group (38.8%, 95%CI: 33.7-44.1) than in non-affluent (18.2%, 95%CI: 14.4-22.7). More than 1/4th of normal weight adolescents [27.2% (99/364)] also had CO. Increased fast food intake (OR: 4.1; 95% CI = 2.1-8.1), low Physical Activity Level (OR: 2.4; 95% CI = 1.3-4.3) and more than 10 hours sedentary time spent per day (OR: 2.2; 95% CI = 1.1-4.8) were independent determinants of CO.

Conclusion: Central obesity among school-going adolescents of a non-metropolitan Indian city is alarmingly high and a burden even in one-fourth of normal weight adolescents. Screening for CO among adolescents by primary physicians, pediatricians, and through School Health Programme is recommended. Behavior change communication regarding risk factors for CO is advocated.

Keywords: Adolescents; central obesity; generalized obesity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Central obesity in adolescents according to BMI Groups (n=660)
Figure 2
Figure 2
Distribution of WC [median and IQR] between BMI groups
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Lukács A, Horváth E, Máté Z, Szabó A, Virág K, Papp M, et al. Abdominal obesity increases metabolic risk factors in non-obese adults: A Hungarian cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health. 2019;19:1533. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Velásquez-Rodríguez CM, Velásquez-Villa M, Gómez-Ocampo L, Bermúdez-Cardona J. Abdominal obesity and low physical activity are associated with insulin resistance in overweight adolescents: A cross-sectional study. BMC Pediatr. 2014;14:258. - PMC - PubMed
    1. El-Kassas G, Ziade F. Exploration of the risk factors of generalized and central obesity among adolescents in north lebanon. J Environ Public Health 2017. 2017:2879075. doi: 10.1155/2017/2879075. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Sahakyan KR, Somers VK, Rodriguez –Escudero JP, Hodge DO, Carter RE, Sochor O, et al. Normal weight central obesity: Implications for total and cardiovascular mortality. Ann Intern Med. 2015;163:827–35. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tuan NT, Wang Y. Adiposity assessments: agreement between dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and anthropometric measures in U. S. children. Obesity [Silver Spring. 2014;22:1495–504. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources