Comparison of adolescents' body mass index in the Ouarzazate region (Southern Morocco) with International References.

ANZID, KARIM; MONTERO, PILAR; RODRÍGUEZ LÓPEZ, SANTIAGO; MORA, ANA

Tuskegee

Congreso; Third International Food and Nutrition Conference; 2011

Tuskegee University

Adolescens constitutes a period of undoubt nutritional interest. Unfortunately, very little information exists on nutritional status in adolescents, especially in developing countries such as Morocco. Aim: The present study evaluated anc compared the distribution of body mass index by age in adolescents in the region of Ouarzazate in southern Morocco with international references. Subjects and methods: Adolescents aged 14-19 years were enrolled from five public high schools in the Ouarzazate region. Height and weight were measured by standard methods. The WHO AnthroPlus 2007 software was used to calculate the BMI-for-age z-score. The Last Mean Square method was used to construct the age-specific BMI percentile curves. The World Health Organization, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and United Kingdom BMI references were used for comparison. Results: A total of 407 participants (178 boys and 229 girlds) were enrolled. Based o BMI-for-age and sex-specific z-score, 7.8% of the adolescent males and 3.1% of females were underweight. 8.6% of the adolescent males and female were overweight and only 1% adolescents were obese. No significant gender differences were seen in these prevalences. Based on BMI-for-age percentile curves, the Moroccan median BMI curve does not differ in shape from the WHO, USA and UK reference curves. However, the Moroccan adolescents were less fat thatn their international counterparts. Conclusion: In Morocco, underweight coexists with overweight and obesity, as in other countries undergoing nutritional transition. The observed deviations from the international reference curves do not necesarily indicate either excessive or inadequate body fat on an individual level. To provide a more complete overview of the nutritional situation in Morocco, it is necesary to extend the study to other regions and to link the data to other indicators. These assessments might include dietary records, data on physical activity, family history, and relevant health screening procedures.