Investigation of the obesity situations of high school students at 14-18 years of different socio-economic levels in Van province center

In this study, it was aimed to investigate the obesity status of high school students in the age range of 14-18 who have different socio-economic levels in Van province center.A total of 2016 students, 1347 male (XYaş:16,33±1,31 yıl, XV.A.:59,39±9,71 kg XBoy:169,57±7,14 cm) and 669 female (XYaş:16,49±1,23 yıl, XV.A.:52,93±6,98 kg XBoy:158,42±5,37 cm) students, participated in the research voluntarily from the secondary school students studying in Van province center. The participants who participated in the research were given a "Personal Information Form" consisting of 8 items and a "Nutrition and Activity Habits" questionnaire consisting of 11 items. SPSS program was used for descriptive statistics and analysis of the data. The Shapiro-Wilk test was used to determine the level of normality of the data obtained in the study. Non-parametric tests were applied at the significance level α=0,05 to determine the difference between the values, considering that the data did not show normal distribution. Independent groups were Mann-Whitney U test in binary comparisons, and Kruskal Wallis test in three comparisons. The Mann-Whitney U test is used to determine intra-group variability in the Kruskal-Wallis test administered to three independent groups. According to Body Mass Index classification, 14,63% of the students were found to be weak, 79,71% normal, 4,63% mildly obese and 0,89% obese. Ministry of Health, according to Turkey Nutrition and Health Survey, prevalence of obesity in Turkey were found as 8,2%, prevalence of obesity in students 14-18 age group in the province of Van result of this research was found to be 0,89%. According to the results of the survey, it is estimated that there is no risk factor present for secondary school students in the province of Van between 14-18 years. However, it is evaluated that it is important to maintain this obesity frequency, to take the students' education related to nutrition, to provide adequate and balanced eating habits to the students and to direct the students to physical activity obesity for a distant life.