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Background: Local data about prevalence of obesity in emerging countries are rather scarce. Risk factors for obesity, well known in most industrialized countries, are poorly understood in Tunisia., Aims: To assess prevalence of overweight and obesity and to investigate associations with possible risk factors in a group of 6-12 year- old schoolchildren in Tunis, Tunisia., Methods: A descriptive transversal study including a sample of 1335 schoolchildren (6-12 years; mean: 9.7 ± 1.5 years) was conducted in Tunis. Personal and parental data were collected by questionnaires completed by parents. Height and weight were measured and body mass index was calculated. Prevalence of overweight and obesity was defined based on international agreed cut-off points., Results: Prevalence of overweight and obesity was 19.7% and 5.7%, respectively. Risk factors associated with overweight were: high degree- educated mother and father: 17.3% vs 11.7% (p=.01) (OR (95%CI): 1.58; 1.09-2.29) and 26% vs 17.4% (p=.002) (OR: 1.66; 1.21-2.29), respectively; mother, father high in occupational hierarchy: 7.2% vs 3.6% (p=0.009) (OR: 2.1; 1.2-3.7) and 14% vs 9% (p=.014) (OR: 1.6; 1.1-2.48), respectively. Overweight children had a significantly higher consumption of bread (p=.044), of snack intake (p=0.046) and of soft drink consumption (p=.035)., Conclusions: Prevalence of overweight and obesity in this cohort are 19.7% and 5.7%, respectively. Substantial differences in food choices in families with the highest socio-economic status are among risk factors contributing to obesity development.

Background: Extrapulmonary tuberculosis accounts for up to one third of all cases of tuberculosis and children show a higher predisposition to the development of extra-pulmonary tuberculosis., Aim: To review the clinical features of the extrapulmonary tuberculosis in children., Methods: forty one children with extrapulmonary tuberculosis followed in the Children Hospital of Tunis between January 1995 and December 2007 were reviewed., Results: Extrapulmonary tuberculosis constitutes 57.9% of all cases of tuberculosis. Male to female ratio was 0.7 and the mean age was 7.5 years. The most commonly involved sites were the peripheral lymphadenitis (14 cases) followed by abdominal (11 cases), central nervous system (7 cases), osteoarticular (5 cases) and multifocal (4 cases). A positive family history of active tuberculosis was detected in 22.5% of the cases. Diagnosis delay was 4.7 months. Sequelae observed during the follow up were: neurosensory in 5 cases, and vertebral deformation in 1 case., Conclusion: extrapulmonary tuberculosis represents an important fraction of tuberculosis in our study. The most common form is lymph nodes localization followed by abdominal and central system nervous forms. Neurosensory sequelae were frequent in central system nervous tuberculosis.