Paper short abstract:

The World Health organization (WHO) defines obesity as ‘global epidemic’. It was estimated that around 400 million people were suffering from obesity in which 84 million were teenagers. The findings revealed that the teenagers were overweight and obese. Teenagers spent average time of 1hr 50 mins on week day and 2 hr 17 mins on weekend on television viewing. Teenagers had spent more time on passive activities rather than on strenuous activities.

Paper long abstract:

Developed nations are not only recognized obesity as a major public health problem; even developing countries consider obesity as an important health problem. Studies from different states of India suggested that the prevalence of obesity ranged from 10 - 50%. The pace of developmental transitions - urbanization, modernization, globalization marked in recent years has led to the double burden of 'under nutrition' and 'obesity' in developing countries. There are various factors that can cause obesity among teenagers and unhealthy lifestyle is on the top in the list. In the present study an attempt was made to investigate the relationship between lifestyle factors such as television viewing, physical activities and obesity among teenagers of Mysore city. The study has consisted 240 teenagers aged 13 - 17 years, studying in high schools and colleges of Mysore city. Anthropometric measurements and information on television viewing behaviors, physical activities carried out daily, and consumption of foods during television viewing were collected. The findings revealed that 81.6% of the teenagers were overweight (37.91%) and obese (43.75%) according to weight for height. Teenagers had spent average time of 1hr 50 mins on week day and 2 hr 17 mins on weekend on television viewing. Teenagers had spent more time on passive activities rather than on strenuous activities. Nearly 3/5th of teenagers (59.6%) have the practice of consuming junk foods and 12.9% of teenagers accustomed to consume carbonated drink while watching television. The results of this study proved that body weight of the teenagers significantly correlates with television viewing time and time spent on physical activities.