This epidemiological study showed a high prevalence of obesity (32,2%) in students of L'Aquila. The study has been carried out on 600 children attending secondary school (303 males and 297 females, age 10-14 year). All the subjects with excess > 20% than ideal body weight for sex and height (according to Tanner and Whitehouse) were considered obese. Our attention has been also given to the role of different factors of risk, connected to obesity. At last we have exterminated the characteristics of the Body Mass Index (BMI = weight/height2)
