Prevalence of underweight, overweight and obesity in university students from the region of Anhui (China)

Background: Overweight and obesity are epidemic worldwide. Our previous study found that the prevalence of overweight and obesity in primary students is high. Objective: we sought to estimate whether the prevalence of overweight and obesity among university students is still high in China. Methods: A cross-sectional study was designed to collect the routine health screening data for university students in 2013. The height and weight of students were measured, and BMI was calculated with height and weight, we estimated the underweight and obesity prevalence of university students using by two references [Working Group on Obesity references in China (2004) and World Health Organization (WHO) criteria (2000)]. Results: Depending on the China references used, the overall prevalence of underweight, overweight (including obesity) and obesity in male university students were 14.2%, 14.7% and 4.2%, respectively; in female university students were 27.5%, 4.4% and 0.6%, respectively. Depending on the WHO references used, the overall prevalence of underweight, overweight (including obesity) and obesity in male university students were 14.2%, 11.5% and 2.5%, respectively, in female university students were 27.5%, 2.4% and 0.3%, respectively. An interesting observation made was that the underweight prevalence of university students has an increasing trend, especially in female. Conclusion: The study showed that the prevalence of underweight in university students, especially in female students has become a critical health issue. Related department of school and government should pay more attention to student’s physical health.