Objective: The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of socio-economic status on obesity and central obesity. For this purpose, the body mass index (BMI), obesity and waist/height rates were evaluated in terms of central obesity prevalence in teenagers who were studying at 6th, 7th and 8th grades in schools located in three different socio-economic areas a city center in Turkey. Material and Methods: The study was conducted on a total of 1.713 students in 2012-2013 academic year. The Primary Schools in the city center of Tokat were grouped according to low, middle and high socio-economic levels; and a total of 6 schools were selected with the Simple Random Sampling Method. All the students in the 6th, 7th and 8th grades of these 6 Primary Schools were included in the present study. The height, body weight and waist circumference measurements were carried out by the researcher herself in the own classrooms of the students. If the waist/height ratio was at or above 0.5, the participant was evaluated as having central obesity. The data that were obtained were evaluated in the computer medium. Results: For all the teenagers, who were included in the study, the mean age value was 12.54±0.92; 33.8% of them were in the 6th grade; 35.8% were in the 7th grade; 30.4% were in the 8th grade; 48.5% were female and 51.5% were male. In terms of the BMI of the teenagers, who were included in the present study, 9.3% were weak, 62.5% were normal, 21.7% were slightly obese, and 6.5% were obese. It was determined that the prevalence of being slightly obese, obese, central obese, and having waist circumferences above 95 percentile increased parallel to the increase in the socio-economic level of the school. Similarly, it was also determined that the body weight, BMI, waist circumference and waist/height ratio increased at a significant level parallel to the increase in the socioeconomic level of the schools. Central obesity was determined in 19.7% of the participants who were included in the study. According to the BMI values, it was also determined that 92.8% of the obese teenagers, 55.1% of the slightly fat teenagers, and 2.8% of the normal teenagers had central obesity. In addition, it was also determined that 15.6% of the female teenagers and 23.6% of the male teenagers had central obesity, and the difference between them was significant. Conclusion: For the purpose of determining the obesity and central obesity rates, it isrecommended that teenagers are evaluated in terms of BMI values and also in terms of waist/height ratios; and it is also recommended that preventive, educative and remedial school-centered services are increased especially against obesity, which is increasing in middle and high socio-economic level schools.