Effect of Weight Reduction Program on Overweight and Obese Children

Background: Obesity is associated with alterations in iron metabolism leading to iron deficiency. Aim: to study the prevalence of obesity among primary school students, assess iron status among overweight/obese children with age ranging between 6 and 12 years and the effect of weight reduction program on iron status. Patients and Methods: The study will be conducted on 2 groups. Group 1 will include 1025 primary school children recruited from 2 urban schools in Cairo with age ranging between 6 and 12. Anthropometric measures and prevalence of overweight/obesity will be assessed. Group 2 will include 100 obese children according to the CDC definition and 50 age and sex matched children with normal weight. All will be subjected to history taking, anthropometric measures, complete blood picture, iron profile and soluble transferrin receptor. Weight reduction program for 6 months will be done for obese children and all parameters will be re-ckecked.