[Obesity in children. I. The prevalence of obesity in the Netherlands]

A review is presented of the prevalence of obesity among apparently healthy 8 year old schoolchildren, based on the findings of the National Nutrition Council's cross-sectional surveys, periodically performed in the Netherlands with 3 year intervals in the period 1960-1977. When clinical obesity is defined as more than 25 pct fat mass of total body-weight in young children, 3 to 4 pct obesity occurs in smaller towns or villages in the peripheral areas of the country and 4 to 7 pct in big cities. When 20 pct fat mass is the criterium for the lower limit of obesity, the prevalence for thick including obese children varies from 10 to 13 pct in small towns versus 14 to 20 pct in big cities. The prevalence of obesity thus defined tends to be lower from 1968 onwards. From various other surveys in the Netherlands similar reports are published, mentioning 2 pct of clinical obesity among 6 to 7 year olds up to 4 and 7 pct among 10 year olds and 8-10 pct among school attending adolescents of 15 and 16 years old. There are no reliable data on the prevalence of obesity among infants and toddlers in this country. A second part of this interview on obesity among children will relate to the possible effects of childhood obesity for obesity in later life.