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Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
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Published on: February 2, 2017

Descriptive epidemiology of childhood overweight and obesity in Australia: 1901-2003

Kevin Norton1, James Dollman, Max Martin

  • 1Sport Knowledge Australia, L1 Building A, Sydney Olympic Park, NSW, Australia. k.norton@unisa.edu.au

International Journal of Pediatric Obesity : IJPO : an Official Journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity
|October 2, 2007
PubMed

Insights

Childhood overweight and obesity in Australia remained stable for decades before accelerating in the 1970s. This trend is predicted to reach adult rates within 30 years.

Area of Science:

  • Public Health
  • Pediatrics
  • Epidemiology

Background:

  • The escalating epidemic of childhood overweight and obesity in Australia necessitates a deeper understanding of prevalence trends.
  • Existing public health policies and intervention strategies require robust data on the long-term trajectory of childhood overweight and obesity.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To analyze the historical trends in overweight prevalence among Australian children over the past century.
  • To provide crucial data for informing public health policies and intervention strategies to combat childhood obesity.

Main Methods:

  • Compiled and analyzed all available raw datasets and descriptive reports on children's heights and weights from the last 100 years.
  • Calculated overweight prevalence rates for children aged 5 to 15 years using the gathered data.

Main Results:

  • Overweight prevalence among Australian children was low and constant for most of the 20th century.
  • A significant acceleration in overweight prevalence began around the early 1970s.

Conclusions:

  • The prevalence of overweight and obesity in Australian children is on a continuous upward trajectory.
  • Projections indicate that childhood overweight and obesity rates may approach adult rates within the next three decades.
Abstract

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