Objective: To determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity, and some of their social correlates among children in Switzerland.
Methods: Data from population and sample studies of school children of different grades from eleven Swiss towns and cantons, gathered in the framework of medical examinations at state schools in the school years 2010/11, 2011/12 or 2012/13, were used. Body mass index (BMI) was used to classify children as normal weight, overweight or obese. The term "excess weight" refers to children who are either obese or overweight.
Results: A total of 17.0% of the children and adolescents were affected by excess weight (including obesity), of which 3.9% were obese. Excess weight was more prevalent at higher school levels (highest level: 20.5%; middle level: 18.2%; basic level: 12.3%), among foreign nationals (basic level: 19.0%; middle level: 26.1%; highest level: 29.3%) as opposed to Swiss nationals (basic level: 11.4%; middle level: 15.2%; highest level: 19.8%) and among children whose parents had only attended compulsory school (basic level: 24.5%; middle level: 37.6%; highest level: 28.3%) as opposed to children whose parents had tertiary schooling (basic level: 8.4%; middle level: 10.6%; highest level: 14.3%). Differences with respect to sex and area of residence were rather small and disappeared in multivariate statistical analyses controlling for the effect of nationality and social background.
Conclusions: Excess weight is widespread but not equally distributed among children in Switzerland. Strategies aimed at reducing the number of overweight children need to take into account social differences between different groups.