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Correspondence

Indian Pediatr 2016;53: 75

Obesity in School Children: Methodological Issues

 

*Manas Pratim Roy and Ratan Gupta

Department of Pediatrics, Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, India.
Email: [email protected]

  


We read with interest about the study on obesity among school children [1]. Considering increasing burden of non-communicable diseases, the authors put forward a timely approach to primary prevention. However, certain issues need clarification:

1. It is not clear how the children were chosen. Number of schools, and classes from where students were sampled also need mention. Was any sampling technique followed?

2. Although children were categorized into undernourished, normal and obese, the first group is nowhere reflected in the results. Were the undernourished children included into non-obese group? As we are facing double burden of nutrition (under- and over-nutrition), mentioning percentage of malnourished would be helpful in comparing both extremes of the problem.

3. Physical activity of the students and measurement of C-reactive protein, although mentioned in methodology, are absent in result section.

4. It is not clear why only 66 children (3.9%) were chosen for laboratory testing whereas the prevalence of obesity was 9.3%?

Reference

1. Shamim A, Mohanty NC, Madan N. Obesity and its complications among suburban school children. Indian Pediatr. 2015;52:619.

 

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