Difference of Height, Body Mass Index and Self-Assessment Among High-School Students in Constanta County- A Comparison between Rural and Urban Areas

The increasing prevalence of obesity among high-school students is a public health problem, as more and more children are facing it.[5] Education has a great impact on the way young people deal with this problem. A significant effect on the behaviour of the pupils is the background they have, differences between children from rural areas compared to children from urban areas in terms of BMI being documented. A number of 185 high-school students from two schools in Constanta, from urban and rural areas were interviewed and data about height and weight was collected.

The results show that there is no statistically significant difference of the height between teenagers from urban and rural area, but there is a statistically significant association between area and BMI-z score distribution. Also, a higher number of teenagers from urban area underestimate their weight status compared to teenagers from rural areas.