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Research Article

Age-specific stabilization in obesity prevalence in German children: A cross-sectional study from 1999 to 2008

, , , , , , , & show all
Pages e199-206 | Received 10 Feb 2010, Published online: 23 Nov 2010
 

Abstract

Objective: Trends of overweight (ov)/obesity (ob) prevalence among German children aged 4–16 years were studied between 1999 and 2008. Subjects: Body mass index (BMI) data (>P90 [ov] and >P97 [ob]) from the national CrescNet database were analysed in three age groups: 4–7.99, 8–11.99, and 12–16 years. Results. Trend analyses. Data from 272 826 children were analyzed. a) Whole study population aged 4–16 years old. A significant upward trend for ov/ob prevalence was found between 1999 and 2003, and a significant downward trend between 2004 and 2008. b) Subgroup analyses. Ov/Ob prevalence increased in most subgroups studied until 2004. Between 2004 and 2008, a downward trend for ov/ob prevalence was found in children, aged 4–7.99 years, whereas it stabilized in most other subgroups studied. Cross-sectional analyses. Data from 93 028 children were analyzed. Ov/ob prevalence was significantly higher in 2004 compared with 2000 in girls aged 12–16 years and in boys aged 8–16 years. Ov/ob obesity prevalence was significantly lower in 2008 compared with 2004 in children aged 4–7.99 years. Conclusion. Ov/ob prevalence increased between 1999 and 2003 in German children. Since 2004, this trend has been stabilizing or turning into a downward trend. Our data confirm the global trend of stabilizing prevalence rates of childhood obesity at a high level and add important information for individual age groups. Intervention programs targeted to prevent childhood obesity may have had beneficial effects, and a new balance between factors favouring obesity and those favouring leanness may have been reached recently. Age- and gender-specific differences found in trends of ov/ob prevalence may help optimise preventive and therapeutic measures.

Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge the support of all 321 pediatricians who participate in the CrescNet database for submitting data of body weight and body heights of children and adolescents. We also would like to express our sincere gratitude to Andrea Grimm for excellent technical assistance in handling the CrescNet database.

Part of the work was supported by grants to SB and WK from the Roland-Ernst-Stiftung für Gesundheitsforschung, Dresden, Germany, the German National Forum for Diabetes mellitus (NAFDM), and by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Germany, FKZ: 01EO1001 (IFB AdiposityDiseases).

WK is being supported by a grant from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF, Kompetenznetz “Adipositas”, Konsortium ‘LARGE’) and by the German Research Foundation (DFG, KFO 152 “Atherobesity”, Bonn, Germany).

We would like to express our special thanks to the Saxonian Ministry for Social Affairs (SMS), Dresden, Germany, for supporting part of the project. SB was the recipient of a grant from the TANITA Health Community Trust, Tokio, Japan.

Finally, we would like to express our gratitude to all children and their parents who participated in this project.

Declaration of interest: The authors of the study presented herein declare that there is no competing financial interests in relation to the work described. The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

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