Chi Square Test Correlation of Physical Activity of Obese Children of Three Libyan Cities

Abstract

Background-The highest prevalence of childhood obesity have been observed in developed countries, however its prevalence is increasing in developing countries as well.Objectives-To evaluate demographic variation in the prevalence of overweight and obesity among 1361 children and adolescents of three Libyan cities Tripoli, Zawia, and Geryan (Tripoli- girls; n =369, boys; n = 290, Zawia- girls; n =250, boys; n = 89, and Geryan- girls; n =230, boys; n = 133) aged 3-19 years. Methods-The study was carried out at Central Tripoli Pediatric Hospital during a year 2016/17.The researcher took the anthropometric measurements inside the nurse's room of the out-patient department (OPD), and gave a questionnaire to children to be answered by one of the child's parents. The questionnaire included questions related to the socioeconomic status, life style (physical activity and eating habits) and family history of overweight and obesity.In this paper a Chi square test of independence is used to measures whether there is a relationship between gender and physical activity.The results shows that there is a significant relationship between the physical activity and the gender for all three cities.