Abstract
DOI: https://doi.org/10.58984/smb2602096n
The rising incidence of childhood obesity among preschoolers presents a substantial global public health challenge, with rates climbing to epidemic levels. This study aims to evaluate the occurrence of overweight and obesity among young children in Bujanovac utilizing benchmarks from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The analyzed cohort comprised attendees of the “Naša radost” kindergarten in Bujanovac. A group of 106 individuals took part, consisting of 50 boys (47%) and 56 girls (53%), aged between 3 and 6 years (44–77 months). Anthropometric metrics including body mass and height were documented for each subject to determine their Body Mass Index (BMI). These BMI calculations were subsequently benchmarked against WHO and CDC reference frameworks. Under the WHO standard, 11.3% of the subjects were identified as overweight and 14.2% as obese. Concurrently, the CDC guidelines identified 13.2% as overweight and 12.3% as obese. Both evaluation metrics yielded an identical aggregated overweight and obesity rate of 25.5%. These outcomes indicate that excess body mass among preschoolers in Bujanovac aligns with trends seen in Western Europe while surpassing figures documented across Middle Eastern and African regions. Furthermore, no statistically meaningful variation appeared between the WHO and CDC interpretive models for defining weight categories within this sample (p=0.716). The notable presence of excess weight documented here highlights an urgent necessity for targeted preventive initiatives and public health frameworks designed to lower these metrics and mitigate the long-term health risks linked to early childhood obesity.
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Key words
obesity, preschool children, overweight, BMI index, southern Serbia
