Obesity in children and adolescents in Cyprus. Prevalence and predisposing factors

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:To estimate the prevalence of childhood and adolescent obesity in Cyprus and define possible associated risk factors. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study of a representative sample of children 6 -17 y of age performed during October 1999 to June 2000. METHODS: Anthropometric data were taken using standard methods, from 2467 children. Certain diet and physical activities as well as other socioeconomic family parameters were assessed with the aid of a questionnaire. Obesity and overweight were defined using both the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) I definition and the newer International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) definition. Logistic regression analyses were performed to estimate the influence of various parameters. RESULTS: The prevalence of obesity in males was 10.3% and in females 9.1% using the NHANES I definition and 6.9 and 5.7%, respectively, using the IOTF definition. The percentages presented a decreasing trend with age. There were an additional 16.9% of males and 13.1% of females defined as overweight with the NHANES I definition and 18.8 and 17.0%, respectively, using the IOTF definition. The most significant associated factor for obesity was parental obesity status. The odds ratio for offspring obesity when both parents were obese ranged from 11.34 (95% CI 1.83 -75.50) in females 6 to 11-y-old to 18.09 (95% CI 2.06 -158.81) for males 12 to 17-y-old. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of childhood and adolescent obesity was estimated for the first time in a representative sample from Cyprus, and this rate is comparable to that observed in North America. These results indicate the need for individual and population measures for the treatment and prevention of pediatric obesity. The rate of obesity differs significantly depending on the method of estimation.

Female gender and wealth are associated to overweight among adolescents in La Paz, Bolivia

“…Although DHS provides data only in girls who have had a child in the previous 3 y (hence a different population), the prevalence of overweight was found to be of a similar size (data not shown). The results described in this paper are furthermore in agreement to previous reports for Brazil (Neutzling et al, 2000) and East Germany (Frye and Heinrich, 2003), but apparently in other countries the contrary is observed (Kautiainen et al, 2002;Savva et al, 2002), where boys tend to be more overweight than girls, hence impeding generalisation.…”

Prevalence of overweight and obesity in Irish school children, using four different definitions

“…Likewise, in Cypriot children aged 6-17 years, the prevalence of overweight was 19 and 17% and obesity was 7 and 6%, in boys in girls, respectively (Savva et al, 2002). However, in Portuguese 7-9 years old, the prevalence of overweight and obesity was higher than in this sample, at 20 and 11%, respectively (Padez et al, 2004).…”

Prevalence and determinants of childhood overweight and obesity in European countries: pooled analysis of the existing surveys within the IDEFICS Consortium

“…[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] Data were cleaned and harmonized and resulted in a common database composed of homogeneously measured variables collected in children of two age ranges (4-5 and 9-11 years). Only surveys using BMI as criterion for the assessment of overweight/ obesity were included.…”

“…In particular, the studies available were conducted in Belgium, 12 Cyprus (three separate surveys, indicated as Cyprus A, 13 Cyprus B, 14 and Cyprus C 15 , and unpublished data provided by M Tornaritis), Estonia, 16 Italy [17][18] and Sweden. 19 Details of each single study were reported in previously published papers.…”

“…19 Details of each single study were reported in previously published papers. [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] In all the previous surveys, approval of the local ethical committee was obtained. In Cyprus, approval for the studies was granted by the Ministry of Health and Ministry Education and Culture.…”