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Obesity and overweight prevalence in Polish 7- to 9-year-old children

Ewa Malecka-Tendera1, Katarzyna Klimek, Pawel Matusik

  • 1Department of Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes, Silesian University School of Medicine, Medyków 16, 40 752 Katowice, Poland. etendera@slam.katowice.pl

Obesity Research
|June 25, 2005
PubMed

Insights

Childhood obesity prevalence in Polish and French children aged 7-9 years showed similar trends. Overweight affected 15.4% of Polish children, comparable to French counterparts, with no significant nutritional status differences observed.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatrics
  • Public Health
  • Epidemiology

Background:

  • Childhood obesity is a growing global concern requiring continuous monitoring.
  • Secular trends in childhood overweight and obesity necessitate cross-sectional surveillance.
  • Understanding national and international variations in childhood obesity is crucial for public health interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity in Polish children aged 7–9 years.
  • To compare these findings with a concurrent French study utilizing the same methodology.
  • To analyze potential differences in nutritional status between Polish and French prepubertal children.

Main Methods:

  • A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2001 following the European Childhood Obesity Group protocol.
  • Height and weight measurements were taken from 2916 randomly selected Polish primary school children (1445 girls, 1471 boys).
  • Nutritional status was assessed using Body Mass Index (BMI) criteria from the International Obesity Task Force.

Main Results:

  • Overweight (including obesity) prevalence was 15.4% in Polish children (15.8% girls, 15.0% boys) and 3.6% for obesity.
  • French children showed a prevalence of 18.1% overweight and 3.8% obesity.
  • No significant differences in nutritional status were found between Polish and French children, except for a higher rate of overweight in French 9-year-old boys.

Conclusions:

  • Prevalence of overweight and obesity in prepubertal children showed minimal differences between Poland and France when using identical protocols and references.
  • Observed trends in decreasing overweight with age were consistent across both populations.
  • These findings contrast with higher adult obesity rates in Poland, highlighting the importance of age-specific epidemiological data.
Abstract

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