[Prevalence and trend of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents in Guangdong province, 2002-2012]

Zhonghua Liu Xing Bing Xue Za Zhi. 2016 Sep 10;37(9):1242-1247. doi: 10.3760/cma.j.issn.0254-6450.2016.09.012.
[Article in Chinese]

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the prevalence and trend of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents aged 6-17 years between 2002 and 2012 in Guangdong province. Methods: A total of 7 075 children and adolescents aged 6-17 years were selected in Guangdong for nutritional survey in 2002 and a total of 2 319 children and adolescents aged 6-17 years were selected in nine counties/districts of Guangdong for nutritional survey during 2009-2012 through multi-stage random cluster sampling. The body height and weight of all the children and adolescents were measured. Results: The result of 2009-2012 survey indicated the average prevalence of overweight and obesity in the children and adolescents surveyed were 7.3% and 4.5%, respectively. The prevalence of overweight and obesity were higher in boys (8.9% and 6.5%) than in girls (5.3% and 2.2%), in rural area (9.3% and 5.6%) than in urban area (4.7% and 3.2%). Children and adolescents aged 9-11 years had a higher overweight and obesity rates compared with other age groups. Compared with 2002, except for obesity rate in urban girls, the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents obviously increased. The increase rate was higher in rural area than urban area and in boys than in girls. Conclusions: Compared with 2002, the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents in Guangdong obviously increased. The prevalence was much higher in boys, those living in rural area and those aged 9-11 years, thus more attention should be paid to them.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Body Height
  • Body Mass Index
  • Body Weight
  • Child
  • China / epidemiology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Nutrition Surveys
  • Obesity / epidemiology*
  • Overweight / epidemiology*
  • Prevalence
  • Surveys and Questionnaires