Impact of Lifestyle Habits on Obesity in School Going Children- A Questionnaire Based Study

Environmental factors like food habits, lifestyle, outdoor activity determine the important causative factors for obesity. Over the last three decades, the prevalence of childhood obesity has risen alarmingly.To learn about the impact of lifestyle habits on obesity in school-aged children and to raise awareness about the importance of living a healthy lifestyle.After obtaining permission from the authorities, a questionnaire was distributed to 200 students aged 10 to 14 in a private school. The study included 190 children. There were 23 questions, which included habits such as eating chocolate, sleeping in the afternoon, playing outdoors or indoors, a family history of obesity, mode of transportation, and so on. Two image based questions were included to know their interests towards playing outdoor games or indoor videogames and their affinity towards junk food or fresh vegetables. The response was evaluated and represented graphically. 35.2% of the students were more intrested in having junk food, 24.2% of the pupils preferred to play video games, 21.1% of the students watch TV for more than 2 hrs daily which can be considered as unhealthy lifestyle habits. 58.5% students answered that they were following good habits in terms of food or play activity from the given questionnaire. The study group were addressed after the evaluation. They were motivated to follow healthy lifestyle habits which when practiced at this age could prevent obesity risk as they grow up.