OBJECTIVE: To determine changes in the prevalences of overweight and obesity between 1980 and 1991 in French adults. DESIGN: Two cross-sectional studies were performed in 1980 and 1991 by the French National Institute of Statistics and Economics Studies in representative samples of the non-institutionalized French population using a similar random sampling of households from the last available national population census. Overweight and obesity were de®ned, based on reported height and weight, by a body mass index (BMI)! !25 kgam 2 and! !30 kgam 2 , respectively. As age and socioeconomic class (SEC) distributions changed between 1980 and 1991, results were compared before and after a direct age class and SEC standardization of the 1991 data, according to the 1980 population distribution. SUBJECTS: 6792 men and 7150 women in 1980, 7250 men and 7856 women in 1991, aged at least 20 y, about 1a a2500 th of the French non-institutionalized adult population. RESULTS: In women, between 1980 and 1991, there were slight increases in the prevalences of obesity (from 6.3% to 7.0%, P`0.08) and of overweight (26.8% and 27.5%, not statistically signi®cant NS). These increases were most pronounced in women aged 20 ± 29 y (obesity: 1.4 ± 2.1%, P`0.15; overweight: 8.0 ± 11.5%, P`0.01). In men, the corresponding prevalences were 6.4% and 6.5%, (NS), and 39.4% and 40.8% (NS). After standardization, the increases in the prevalences of obesity and overweight were even higher between 1980 and 1991 in women (the standardized prevalences in 1991 were respectively: 7.8% and 28.9%), but were unchanged in men. CONCLUSIONS: There were slight overall increases in the prevalences of overweight and obesity between 1980 and 1991 in both genders, which were most pronounced among young women. Changes in the age and SEC distribution in the French population have limited the increase in the prevalences of overweight and obesity in women. These results, based on reported data, may underestimate the prevalences of overweight and obesity and their increase. Nevertheless, the prevalences of reported obesity are similar to those of other European countries, such as Sweden and The Netherlands, and lower than in the UK, USA and Canada.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate associations between adiposity indices and food intake in nonobese prepubertal freeliving children. SUBJECTS: Five-hundred and one children, 280 boys and 221 girls aged 5 ± 11 y in two little towns in northern France. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Height and weight, four skinfolds (biceps, triceps, subscapular, suprailiac), waist and hip girths, were measured. Sum of skinfolds (SSF), body mass index (BMI), and relative weight (RW) were calculated. Energy intake (EI), percentage of energy intake ascribed to carbohydrates (%EIC), complex carbohydrates (%EICC), fats (%EIF), saturated fats (%EISF) and proteins (%EIP) were assessed by a single 24 h record. Basal metabolic rate (BMR) was estimated according to Scho®eld's equations. Obese (RW 120%), and underreporting children according to Goldberg's and Black's equations were excluded. RESULTS: In multiple linear regressions analyses performed with hierarchical mixed models, adiposity indices were signi®cantly and inversely associated in girls with %EIC (all P-values`0.02), and positively with %EIF (all P-values 0.05, waist girth and BMI excepted). Similar but non-signi®cant trends were observed in boys. The relationships were not linear, and thresholds close to current dietary recommendations were highlighted. When %EIF was low, a lower percentage of energy intake ascribed to %EISF was associated with thinness. These associations remained after the exclusion of children who had an EIaBMR 1.50. CONCLUSIONS: In nonobese prepubertal children aged 5 ± 11 y, a high %EIC, close to dietary recommendations ( 55%), was associated with thinness. A high %EIF, over the upper dietary recommendation ( 35%), was associated with a greater adiposity thickness. There was no further increase in adiposity beyond this threshold. Reasons for the absence of a linear relationship pattern between adiposity and macronutrient intake remain to be determined.

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