Abstract:
Introduction: Childhood overweight or obesity is a serious public health problem in the
world in this century. The prevalence increases from time to time rapidly. Children growing in
this world had the risk of becoming overweight and obese due to environmental and
behavioral factors. At the same time, they have an increased risk of developing non
communicable diseases later in adulthood.
Objective: To assess the prevalence of overweight/obesity and associated factors among
preschool children in Arba Minch town Gamo zone, southern Ethiopia 2022.
Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted among preschool children
in Arba Minch town from April to June; the total sample size was 577. Multi stage sampling
technique was applied to get the study participants from each household. Finally, data were
collected from mothers or caregivers by using a structured interviewer-administered
questionnaire by using open data kit. Binary logistic regression model were used for analyses.
Bivariate analyses were done to identify candidate variables for multivariable analyses.
Variables with p value <0.25 were entered into final model. Multivariable Logistic regression
analyses with 95% confidence interval were done to assess the association between dependent
and independent variables. Statistical significance was declared at p-value of < 0.05.
Result: The combined prevalence of overweight/obesity was 23.9% (95% CI: 20.5-27.6). The
prevalence of overweight was 15.6% and obesity was 8.3%. Children with age group of 36-47
months were 2.187 times more likely to be overweight/obese when compared to children from
age group of 48-60 months (AOR = 2.187 [95% CI: 1.100-4.349]. Children having family size
<5 were 2.328 times more likely to be overweight or obese as compared to children having
family size of >5 (AOR = 2.328 [95% CI: 1.126-4.815]. The odds of overweight/obese was
high among children who watch TV/video (AOR = 2.788 [95% CI: 1.127-6.897] and who
consume sweet foods (AOR = 4.138 [95% CI: 1.862-9.197] compared to counterpart.
Conclusions: The combined prevalence of overweight/obesity was 23.9%. Being in age
group of 36-47 month, having family size <5, time spent on watching TV/video for > 2hrs and
consumption of sweet foods were found to be the factors associated with overweight/obesity
