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Updated: Jul 25, 2025
Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
Published on: February 2, 2017
Differences in Anthropometric Parameters of Children in Six European Countries
Csilla Semánová1,2, Gergő J Szőllősi2,3, István Ilyés1
1Department of Family and Occupational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary.
Insights
This study presents new European children's anthropometric data, revealing significant country-specific differences in weight, height, and BMI. Findings highlight the need for targeted obesity prevention strategies in children aged 6-10.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Endocrinology
- Public Health Nutrition
- Childhood Obesity Research
Background:
- Existing databases for children's anthropometric parameters are often outdated and lack international representativeness.
- There is a need for current, representative anthropometric data across diverse European populations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present anthropometric parameters for children aged 6-10 years across six European countries.
- To identify country-specific variations in children's anthropometric measurements within the Feel4Diabetes project.
- To provide updated data for public health initiatives and obesity prevention strategies.
Main Methods:
- The Feel4Diabetes study collected anthropometric data (weight, height, BMI) from 20,832 children (48.7% boys) aged 6-10 years.
- Data were gathered from Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, Greece, Hungary, and Spain between 2016 and 2018.
- Measurements included baseline and yearly follow-up data.
Main Results:
- Belgian boys exhibited the lowest weight and height, while Greek boys had the highest weight and Finnish boys the highest height.
- Greece had the highest proportion of overweight and obese boys, with Belgium showing the lowest.
- Significant variations in girls' anthropometric parameters and BMI categories were observed across countries, with Greece and Spain showing higher rates of overweight/obesity.
Conclusions:
- This study provides current, comparable anthropometric data for European children aged 6-10.
- The findings underscore the necessity for tailored obesity prevention programs based on country-specific data.
- The data supports the development of public health interventions to address childhood obesity across Europe.
Background:
The databases of children's anthropometric parameters are often outdated, rarely representative and are not always available at an international level.
Objectives:
To present children's anthropometric parameters in six European countries that contributed to the Feel4Diabetes project and find country-specific differences.
Design/Setting:
The Feel4Diabetes study was performed between 2016 and 2018, targeting children in Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, Greece, Hungary and Spain. The current study presents data from the baseline and the yearly follow-up anthropometric measurements.
Subjects:
In total, 20,832 measurements of children (48.7% boys) between 6 and 10 years of age were conducted.
Main Outcome Measure:
weight, height, BMI.
Results:
Belgian boys had the lowest body weight and height, while Greek boys had the highest body weight, and Finnish had the highest body height. The highest proportion of overweight (percentile above 85%) and obese boys (percentile above 95%) was in Greece, followed by Hungarian, Spanish, Bulgarian and Finnish boys. In contrast, Belgian boys had the lowest ratio in both categories. Among girls, Greece had the highest; Belgium had the lowest body weight; Finland was the highest in all age categories. The ratio in the overweight range was the highest in Greece, followed by Spanish, Bulgarian and Hungarian girls, who were second in the obese category. Finnish girls had lower and Belgian girls had the lowest ratio in both BMI categories. All the detailed data are presented in tables, and the trends are figures.
Conclusions:
Our study presents fresh and comparable anthropometric data of children between 6 and 10 years of age in six European countries, supporting the need for appropriate obesity prevention.
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