Exploring overweight, obesity and their behavioural correlates among children and adolescents: results from the Health-promotion through Obesity Prevention across Europe project

Abstract

Objectives: The Health-promotion through Obesity Prevention across Europe (HOPE) project aims to bring the European scientific knowledge on overweight, obesity and their determinants together and use the expertise of researchers across Europe to contribute to tackling the obesity epidemic. Design/subjects/results: This special issue of Public Health Nutrition presents important results from one of the work packages of the HOPE project that aims at gaining and integrating knowledge on the determinants of nutrition, physical activity and obesity among schoolchildren and adolescents (aged 10-18 years) in different European regions. It includes contributions from Northern Europe (Norway), Central and Eastern Europe (Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic), Southern Europe (Greece) and Western Europe (Belgium and The Netherlands), as well as an overview of the availability of good-quality data on prevalence rates and trends in overweight (including obesity) among adolescents in European Union (EU) countries. The studies that are included report prevalence differences, data on relevant nutrition and physical activity behaviours, as well as potential physical and environmental behavioural determinants. Conclusion: These papers provide further evidence on differences in obesity and overweight prevalence among different EU regions and countries, and contribute to the further exploration of risk factors that may or should be addressed in obesity prevention efforts for school-aged children and adolescents in EU countries. Keywords Obesity prevention Adolescents OverviewThe background and aims of the Healthpromotion through Obesity Prevention across Europe projectThe prevalence of overweight and obesity in Europe has been steadily increasing, with rates doubling during recent decades in several countries. An increasing number of countries in the European Union (EU) have obesity levels exceeding 20 % in the adult population, and more than 50 % of the total European adult population is regarded as overweight. Up to 20 % of children in several European countries are overweight (1,2) . Weight gain and subsequent overweight are a result of an imbalance between food intake and physical activity. However, insight into the more specific risk behaviours, sometimes referred to as 'obesogenic behaviours', and the underlying determinants of these obesogenic behaviours across Europe is limited. Subsequently, information about effective obesity prevention interventions and policies is scattered. Systematic attempts are ongoing and necessary to increase knowledge of these determinants and interventions and to translate this knowledge into effective intervention strategies and policy measures. These attempts should take into account the great need for obesity prevention among the lower socio-economic groups. The Health-promotion through Obesity Prevention across Europe (HOPE) project, funded by the European Commission's Sixth Framework Programme, is one such attempt that aims at supporting and advancing the development and implemen...

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