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Updated: Jun 27, 2026
Clinical Anthropometrics and Body Composition from 3-Dimensional Optical Imaging
Published on: June 7, 2024
Child body mass index in four cities of East China compared to Western references
Huiqi Pan1, Yifang Jiang, Xinming Jing
1MRC Centre of Epidemiology for Child Health, UCL Institute of Child Health, UK.
Insights
Child obesity in China is rising, with boys affected earlier. Early life factors and economic development are key drivers, impacting current and future child health.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Endocrinology
- Public Health
- Growth Monitoring
Background:
- Childhood obesity is a growing global concern.
- Data on obesity trends in Chinese children are limited.
- This study addresses the lack of documentation on child obesity in China.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare body mass index (BMI) distribution by age in Chinese children with Western references.
- To analyze trends in childhood obesity in East China.
- To provide insights into the early life origins of child obesity.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from 94,370 boys and 90,048 girls aged 0-19 years across four Chinese cities (Shanghai, Jinan, Xuzhou, Hefei) from 1999-2004.
- Employed the LMS method to establish BMI centiles for each city.
- Compared findings with US and UK BMI references and Shanghai data from 1986.
Main Results:
- Median BMI curves in Chinese children differed in shape from US and UK references.
- Chinese boys showed higher adiposity than US boys in early to mid-childhood, but less in adolescence.
- Significant increases in adiposity were observed in Shanghai children between 1986 and 2000, particularly in boys.
Conclusions:
- Childhood obesity has early life origins, especially in boys.
- Economic development is linked to the rise in child obesity.
- Findings have implications for understanding obesity aetiology and safeguarding the health of Chinese children.
Background:
The rising trends in child obesity worldwide are poorly documented in China.
Aim:
The present study compared the distribution of body mass index (BMI) by age in children from four cities in East China with Western references.
Subjects And Methods:
94 370 boys and 90 048 girls aged 0-19 years from Shanghai, Jinan, Xuzhou and Hefei were measured in 1999-2004 for length/height and weight. The LMS method was used to construct BMI centiles for each city. Shanghai children aged 0-6 years in 1986 and US and UK BMI references were used for comparison.
Results:
The median BMI curves for the four cities differed in shape from those for the USA and UK. Chinese boys were fatter than US boys in early to mid-childhood but less so in adolescence, and US boys were fatter at age 18. Within China the adiposity rebound was earlier in boys than girls. Shanghai children were appreciably fatter in 2000 than in 1986, and boys more so than girls.
Conclusions:
The roots of child obesity lie in early life, particularly in boys, and are linked to economic development, which has important implications for both the aetiology of child obesity and the health of current and future Chinese children.
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