Prevalence of overweight and underweight in schoolchildren in Constantine, Algeria: comparison of four reference cut-off points for body mass index

Abstract

Background: Algeria is experiencing a nutritional transition and increasing overweight in children. Aims: This study aimed to determine the prevalence of overweight and underweight in children aged 6-10 years in Constantine city, Algeria using four international reference cutoffs for body mass index. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between February and May 2015 with a sample of 509 schoolchildren aged 6-10 years. Height and weight were measured according to World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations. The body mass index cutoffs of WHO, International Obesity Task Force, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and French national references were used to classify the sample as underweight and overweight according to age and sex. The kappa coefficient was used to assess agreement between the reference cutoffs. Results: Based on the of different reference cutoffs , the prevalence of underweight in the children varied from 1.4% to 8.8%. The prevalence of overweight varied from 22.8% to 28.3%. The WHO cutoff gave a significantly higher prevalence of overweight in boys than girls (32.6% versus 24.0%, P = 0.03). The kappa values (between 0.251 and 0.954) indicated a fair to excellent agreement between the different reference cutoffs. Conclusion: The prevalence of overweight and underweight differs in the Constantine children depending on the reference cutoff used, suggesting international references should be used with care to avoid potential misclassification of children's nutritional status.

Assessing Disparities about Overweight and Obesity in Pakistani Youth Using Local and International Standards for Body Mass Index

“…The same trend was also observed among both boys (6.9% vs. 4.5% and 4.5% for overweight and 2.2% vs. 2.0% and 1.0% for obesity, respectively) and girls (7.9% vs. 5.2% and 5.8% for overweight and 2.2% vs. 2.3% and 1.4% for obesity, respectively). These findings were consistent with the earlier studies with the Algerian [25], Malaysian [26] and Saudi [27] child samples. A study in Lahore, Pakistan, found that 1860 schoolchildren had a higher prevalence of overweight and obesity when measured against the WHO reference compared to the IOTF and CDC references [28].…”

“…The agreement was moderate to excellent (κ ≥ 0.8) when examining child obesity, particularly between the WHO and CDC references. These results were also consistent with the Algerian and Malaysian study results [25,26] revealing that the agreement was excellent between the WHO and CDC for examining childhood obesity. In contrast, a comparison between three international references and the population's own BMI reference showed a poor agreement (i.e., κ < 0.6), which is also parallel to earlier research results [24].…”

Association between Overweight and Diet Diversity Score: A Cross-Sectional Study Conducted among Tunisian Children

“…Moreover, while no official assessment of food advertisements has been conducted in Tunisia, similar countries from the Eastern and Mediterranean regions are frequently exposed to unhealthy food advertisements in mass media [ 43 ]. The anthropometric parameters trends in Tunisia are similar to those reported in proximal North African countries (e.g., Algeria and Morocco) which showed a rising of the excess of adiposity [ 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 ].…”

Study of the relationship between nutrition, physical activity, and overweight/obesity in children in a school context

“…In Algeria, few studies have been published on overweight in early childhood (less than five years) 13,14 . However, several studies on children and adolescents in school at the age of 4 to12 years old have been published at several regional levels; for example in Constantine in 2009, 2014 and 2020, the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children was equal to 23.10 % from 6 to 12 years old 15 , and 8.5 % (overweight) and 19.3 % (obese) from 10 to 11 years old, and 22.8 to 28.3 % from 6 to10 years 16 , respectively. In Tebessa, in 2007 and 2010, the prevalence was 17.39 % from 4 to 13 years old and 6.36 % from 5 to 8 years old 17,18 .…”

“…was recorded in16.67 % of normal-weight children and 91.67 % of overweight and obese children. The reasons that explain this practice are that the children watch television while swallowing large quantities.…”