Аңдатпа
Childhood obesity is a significant public health issue in Kazakhstan and worldwide. The prevalence of teenager obesity has increased almost three times over the past 20 years among adolescents from 12 to 19 years old. This study aimed to evaluate the waist–to–height ratio (WHtR) as the most informative method for identifying abdominal obesity among young people of 12–13 years old. In this cross–sectional study of 1519 adolescents aged 12–13years (mean age: 12.3 ± 0.46years), data were obtained from the from all the seven secondary schools in Semey city (Kazakhstan) science during 2015–2016. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS (version 22). The prevalence of overweight and obesity in terms of body mass index (BMI) among adolescents was 24.6 %. Excess weight is significantly higher among girls, but obesity is less pronounced in comparison with boys. According to body BMI by ethnicity overweight is more prevalent among Russian teenagers. The prevalence of abdominal obesity (WC˃90 Th percentile) was 1.2 % among boys (n = 9) and 5.3 % among girls (n = 41). According to the WHtR, the obesity among boys (n = 57) was 7.7 % and 7.5 % among girls (n = 58) respectively. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was found to be 24.6 % in adolescents. Underweight or overweight were significantly higher among girls, but obesity was less pronounced compared with boys (р˃0,001). Our study recommends to use both WC and WHtR in determining abdominal obesity among adolescents. • Waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) is an effective indicator for detecting abdominal obesity in all adolescents in Kazakhstan. • The prevalence of overweight and obesity based on BMI in 12–13-year-olds was 25 %. • Girls had a higher prevalence of overweight, while boys showed more pronounced obesity. • WHtR was found to be more effective in identifying abdominal obesity cases than waist circumference alone (WC > 90th percentile). • Russian ethnicity adolescents showed a higher rate of overweight compared to other groups.