The prevalence of obesity and affecting factors for children in the 6-10 years of age group in erzincan province

Aim: Obesity in childhood is associated with a great variety of serious health complications, afterwards early illness and the increase of death risk. In this age, obesity may be not only an illness, but also an indicator of another illness. As a result, it is important to take the obese child to the doctor in early period. Obesity is a major cause. Because of a series of serious illnesses, it should be given priority to prevent the obesity earlier –starting in childhood and during pregnancy- for public health. This study aims to determine the prevalence of obesity and affecting factors for children aged 6-10 years in Erzincan and to compare the results with the results of other studies. Material and Method: General survey model being one of the descriptive model and random sampling have been used in this research. 904 children (G: 439, B: 465) from 5 primary schools -by randomized exemplification method- involved in this study in 2017-2018 Academic Year. The results of data analysis obtained by a questionnaire and anthropometric measurements, body mass index (BMI), body weight (BW) and height percentile reference table have been formed according to the gender and age. The levels of obesity predisposition and affecting have been examined according to socio-demographic characteristics, dietary habits and physical activity states. Descriptive statistics terms such as minimum and maximum values, mean, standard deviation, frequency and percentages have been used. At first, the level of significance has been identified as p≤0.05. The data analysis has been made by means of SPSS 22. LMS Chart Maker Pro Programme has been used for percentile charts. Data input and odds values have been made by Microsoft Office 2016 Excel. Results: In our research; according to the levels of BMI, 10.18% of the children are overweight (Girl: 10.25%, Boy: 10.11%) and 4.65% are obese (Girl: 4.56%, Boy: 4.73%). There is no significant variation between the gender and levels of BMI of the age groups of children (p> 0.05). It has been identified that the most important factors affecting obesity and overweight for both genders of children are BMI of mother, mother's jobs and speed of eating (p< 0.05). It is generally being evaluated, children' s tendency to obesity is lower than the results of national works and it is less than the data of World Health Organization in 2016 all around the world. Conclusion: Gaining a balanced diet habits should be started from small ages. Mother has a leading role for both genders in this sense. Thus, training for mothers should be increased. Healthy life subjects should be increased in the lessons to get the culture of nutrition and physical activities. Additionally, to constitute BMI reference values will minimize the differences among the studies territorially. Keywords: Children, prevalence of obesity, body mass index.