BODY COMPOSITION OF YOUNG ADOLESCENTS FROM RURAL AND URBAN AREAS

The obesity rate among school-age children has been on constant rise for several decades.The lack of physical activity and unhealthy diet exist in both cities and rural areas.The primary aim of this research is to compare body composition between the two groups of adolescents -rural and urban.The sample of 1122 examinees, all elementary school students, aged 10 to 14 (590 boys and 532 girls; 706 urban, and 416 rural area residents) has been subjected to testing and measuring 4 parameters: body mass, body height, Body-Mass-Index (BMI), and body fat percentage.By applying the ANOVA the impact of sex, age, and place of residence on the average values of all 4 parameters was tested.Boys and girls residing both in cities and rural areas did not have significantly different average values of all anthropometric variables.The examinees' age and sex proved to have the greatest impact on the parameters' average values.Due to the natural biological development, the female examinees had lower body mass, yet higher fat than their male peers.The BMI of urban and rural children was not significantly statistically different.16% of the overall sample was classified as overweight and obese.