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Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
09:36

Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study

Published on: February 2, 2017

Prevalence of overweight and obesity among children aged 2-5 years in Bahrain: a comparison between two reference

Ghada Y Al-Raees1, Maryam A Al-Amer, Abdulrahman O Musaiger

  • 1Nutrition Unit, Public Health Directorate, Ministry of Health, Kingdom of Bahrain.

International Journal of Pediatric Obesity : IJPO : an Official Journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity
|November 20, 2009
PubMed

Insights

Prevalence of overweight and obesity in Bahraini preschoolers varies by age and sex. Using World Health Organization (WHO) cut-offs significantly increases detected rates compared to International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) indicators.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Endocrinology
  • Public Health Nutrition
  • Childhood Obesity Research

Background:

  • Childhood overweight and obesity are significant global health concerns.
  • Accurate prevalence data is crucial for effective public health interventions.
  • Different growth charts and cut-off values can impact reported prevalence rates.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity in Bahraini preschoolers aged 2-5 years.
  • To compare prevalence estimates using World Health Organization (WHO) and International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) cut-off values.
  • To highlight the importance of standardized reference values in pediatric obesity assessment.

Main Methods:

  • Cross-sectional study involving 354 males and 344 females aged 2-5 years.
  • Measurement of weight and height to calculate Body Mass Index (BMI).
  • Application of WHO and IOTF criteria for defining overweight and obesity.

Main Results:

  • Using WHO cut-offs, overweight prevalence was 12.3% and obesity 8.4% in females (2-<4 years).
  • Overweight prevalence was 8.4% and obesity 7.2% in males (4-<6 years) using WHO cut-offs.
  • WHO criteria yielded approximately a 2-fold increase in overweight and obesity compared to IOTF indicators across most age groups.

Conclusions:

  • Prevalence of overweight and obesity in Bahraini preschoolers differs based on age and sex.
  • Significant discrepancies exist between WHO and IOTF cut-off values, impacting prevalence estimates.
  • Standardization of reference values is essential for consistent and comparable childhood obesity surveillance and programming.

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