Differences in Anthropometric Parameters of Children in Six European Countries

Csilla Semánová; Gergő J Szőllősi; István Ilyés; Greet Cardon; Julie Latomme; Violeta Iotova; Yuliya Bazdarska; Jaana Lindström; Katja Wikström; Sandra Herrmann; Peter Schwarz; Eva Karaglani; Yannis Manios; Konsantinos Makrilakis; Luis Moreno; Esther M González-Gil; Imre Rurik; The Feel Diabetes-Study Group

doi:10.3390/children10060983

Differences in Anthropometric Parameters of Children in Six European Countries

Children (Basel). 2023 May 31;10(6):983. doi: 10.3390/children10060983.

Authors

Csilla Semánová^{1

2}, Gergő J Szőllősi^{2

3}, István Ilyés¹, Greet Cardon⁴, Julie Latomme⁴, Violeta Iotova^{5

6}, Yuliya Bazdarska^{5

6}, Jaana Lindström⁷, Katja Wikström⁷, Sandra Herrmann^{8

9

10}, Peter Schwarz^{8

9

10}, Eva Karaglani¹¹, Yannis Manios¹¹, Konsantinos Makrilakis¹², Luis Moreno^{13

14}, Esther M González-Gil^{13

14}, Imre Rurik^{2

15

16}, The Feel Diabetes-Study Group

Affiliations

¹ Department of Family and Occupational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary.
² Doctoral School of Health Sciences, University of Debrecen, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary.
³ Department of Health Informatics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Debrecen, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary.
⁴ Department of Movement and Sports Sciences, Ghent University, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium.
⁵ Department of Social Medicine and Health Care Organization, Medical University of Varna, 9002 Varna, Bulgaria.
⁶ Department of Paediatrics, Medical University of Varna, 9002 Varna, Bulgaria.
⁷ Department of Public Health and Welfare, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, FI-00271 Helsinki, Finland.
⁸ Department for Prevention and Care of Diabetes, Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany.
⁹ Paul Langerhans Institute, Dresden of Helmholtz Zentrum München, University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine, 01307 Dresden, Germany.
¹⁰ German Center for Diabetes Research, 40225 Neuherberg, Germany.
¹¹ Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Science and Education, Harokopio University, 17671 Athens, Greece.
¹² First Department of Propaedeutic Medicine, Athens Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University, Laiko General Hospital, 11527 Athens, Greece.
¹³ Growth, Exercise, Nutrition and Development (GENUD), Research Group, University of Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain.
¹⁴ IBER, Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28222 Madrid, Spain.
¹⁵ Hungarian Society of Nutrition, 4002 Budapest, Hungary.
¹⁶ Department of Family Medicine, Semmelweis University, 1085 Budapest, Hungary.

Abstract

Background: The databases of children's anthropometric parameters are often outdated, rarely representative and are not always available at an international level.

Objectives: To present children's anthropometric parameters in six European countries that contributed to the Feel4Diabetes project and find country-specific differences.

Design/setting: The Feel4Diabetes study was performed between 2016 and 2018, targeting children in Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, Greece, Hungary and Spain. The current study presents data from the baseline and the yearly follow-up anthropometric measurements.

Subjects: In total, 20,832 measurements of children (48.7% boys) between 6 and 10 years of age were conducted.

Main outcome measure: weight, height, BMI.

Results: Belgian boys had the lowest body weight and height, while Greek boys had the highest body weight, and Finnish had the highest body height. The highest proportion of overweight (percentile above 85%) and obese boys (percentile above 95%) was in Greece, followed by Hungarian, Spanish, Bulgarian and Finnish boys. In contrast, Belgian boys had the lowest ratio in both categories. Among girls, Greece had the highest; Belgium had the lowest body weight; Finland was the highest in all age categories. The ratio in the overweight range was the highest in Greece, followed by Spanish, Bulgarian and Hungarian girls, who were second in the obese category. Finnish girls had lower and Belgian girls had the lowest ratio in both BMI categories. All the detailed data are presented in tables, and the trends are figures.

Conclusions: Our study presents fresh and comparable anthropometric data of children between 6 and 10 years of age in six European countries, supporting the need for appropriate obesity prevention.

Keywords: BMI of children; Belgium; Bulgaria; Feel4Diabetes; Finland; Greece; Hungary; Spain; body height; body weight; child growth.

Grants and funding

The Feel4Diabetes-study has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program under grant agreement n°643708. The funding body was not involved in the analysis and interpretation of data nor in the writing of the manuscript. The content of this article reflects only the authors’ views.