The Prevalence of Short Stature, Underweight and Obesity in Schoolchildren in Diyarbakir, Turkey

In this study, the prevalence of short stature, underweight and obesity were investigated in schoolchildren in Diyarbakir, Turkey. A total of 3040 children aged 9 to 17 years (mean age, 12.1±1.5 years, 2230 boys, 810 girls) were screened. All children filled their medical, social and demographic characteristics in a questionnaire before measurements. Weight and height percentiles of boys and girls were lower than normal standard percentile curves of NHCS and those of children in Istanbul. Short stature, as height under 5th percentile, was detected in 419 children (13.8%) and under 3rd percentile in 300 children (9.9%). Crowded family, boarding school and rural origin were not effective on the frequency of short stature. According to body mass index 64 (2.1%) of children were overweight and 30 (0.9%) were obese. There was significant difference between boys and girls for the ratios of short stature (8.9% vs.12.3%, p=0.007) but prevalence of obesity was the same in two gender (1.0% vs. 1.0%, p>0.05). The total prevalence of underweight was 21% (660 children). The ratio of underweight children (according to relative weight) was higher in urban compared to rural areas (26.7% vs. 17.1%; p<0.001), in girls than in boys (30.9% vs. 18.4, p<0.001), and in students staying home compared to boarding school (23.5% vs. 19.1%, p=0.002). Our results show a very low-prevalence of obesity and high prevalence of short stature and underweight comparing with developed countries and western parts of Turkey.