8. Original Scientific Paper
Abstract

The present study was conducted to evaluate overweight/obesity in relation to television viewing and physical activity. Cross-sectional data on 540 Meitei subjects (256 adolescent boys and 284 adolescent girls) aged between 14 and 19 years of age was collected following a house to house survey. The prevalence of overweight/obesity was evaluated by using zscores BMI for age and sex recommended by WHO. The observed overall frequency of overweight/obesity among adolescent boys and girls was 6.6 per cent and 6.7 per cent, respectively. Subjects who watched television for more than three hours daily reported a higher frequency of overweight/obesity (adolescent boys 21.7% and adolescent girls 33.3%) as compared to those who watched TV for less than 3 hours per day (adolescent boys 2.0% and adolescent girls 2.1%). The study further indicated that the higher frequency of overweight/obesity among adolescent boys (30.2%) and adolescent girls (19.4%) was found among those who exercised below one hour daily as compared to those who exercised more than one hour (1.9% boys and 1.1% girls). The present study indicates that the prevalence of overweight/obesity was higher among adolescent boys and girls who spent more time on watching television and inactive physical activity. Inactive physical activity and prolonged television watching signify more sedentary lifestyles, which in turn, leads to unhealthy gains in body weight over time due to the accumulation of more unwanted fat depositions in the body and less opportunities to shed these.

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