ABSTRACT:
The rising prevalence of obesity is a worldwide problem affecting not only the developed world but also developing nations. the present study was carried out to determine knowledge, attitude and practice of secondary school students toward obesity. A random sample of 456 students from secondary schools of Baghdad city Al- karkh district selected, The data was gathered through interview questionnaire which consist of demographic information and general knowledge ,attitude and practice about obesity .the resultshowed that (11.9 % ,15.6%) of the female and male respectively were obese ,and most obese students were in the 5th class and (33.3%, 33.8%) of female and male respectively were overweight , their source of information was from TV and internet and then from their families and friends. The students had a good knowledge and practice regarding obesity and overweight, with significant variation with gender and level of the classes, that is females had a significantly higher knowledge than males but males significantly had a good practice than female. The students in the 6th class were significantly had a good knowledge regarding obesity and overweight more than the other classes also the practice had a significant variation and the highest score was in the 5th class . we concluded that The students had a good knowledge and practice regarding obesity and overweight ,with significant variation with gender and level of the classes .