Epidemiology of Overweight and Childhood Obesity in Abidjan:Cases Collected by the Nutrition Department of the National Institute of Public Health in Abidjan(Côte d’Ivoire)

Objective:The objective of this work is to describe the epidemiological profile of overweight or obese children monitored at the nutrition service of the National Institute of Public Health(INSP)of Abidjan.Methodology:This is a retrospective and cross-sectional study that took place from April 28,2017 to December 28,2018 at the Nutrition Department of the INSP.It concerned 181 children or adolescents of both sexes aged 5 to 19 years monitored for their excess weight in the said service.Data was collected using a summary sheet of medical records over the study period.Results:The results obtained indicate that out of all 181 young patients,130(71.8%)were girls,of which 122(67.4%)were obese.49.2%of these patients were between 10 and 14 years old with a mean age of 12.24 years.Their biochemical assessment showed that the disturbance was always greater in obese patients except for the proportion of biochemical results disturbed in uric acid level which was higher in overweight subjects.These subjects developed eating disorders such as overeating for 87.8%and snacking in 55.2%of them.Conclusion:The epidemiological profile of overweight children and adolescents requires a rapid fight against this pathology.