Assessment of Weight Status among a Multiethnic Based Children Sample
ADEOGUN John Olufemi

Abstract
The study used the BMI – for – age to screen children for overweight and determined their weight status categories. Two thousand five hundred (2500) male and female children from Festac town in Lagos metropolis served as participants for the study. The participants’ age, height and weight were taken to determine the Body Mass Index (BMI) and this was correlated for age as recommended for children and teenagers. The descriptive statistics of mean, range and percentage and percentile were used in presenting the results. The results revealed that 11.88% of the pupils studied were overweight while 29% were at risk of been overweight and a total of 40.88% were either overweight or at a risk of been overweight. The study finally concludes that since overweight children have the tendency to grow to be obese adults, efforts must therefore be made to control; the predisposing factors to obesity right from childhood.

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