Original article
Obesity in Swedish Schoolchildren is Increasing in Both Prevalence and Severity

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2007.07.004Get rights and content

Abstract

Purpose

To monitor and describe, on a national level, the development of body mass index (BMI), overweight, and obesity of schoolchildren in Sweden aged 7–18 years over a period of 8 years.

Methods

Longitudinal and cross-sectional studies of two nationally representative cohorts. A representative sample of 3,749 individuals from a birth cohort of 109,663 individuals born in 1973, and another representative sample of 3,158 individuals from a birth cohort of 94,064 individuals born in 1981; 4.5% and 1.6% of those born in 1973 and 1981, respectively, were missing from the sample. Data regarding height and weight from school health records.

Results

From age 7–18 year, a strong positive secular change in BMI is found at all ages, and the rate of overweight and obesity is increasing for both boys and girls. Furthermore, obesity is growing more severe.

Conclusions

Nationally representative longitudinal BMI data for two cohorts, in which nonresponse bias is minimized, permitted monitoring and revealed a nationwide strongly positive secular change in BMI in Sweden, over a period of 8 years for individuals aged 7–18 years.

Section snippets

What kind of knowledge is missing?

Repeated comparable surveys of a whole country with longitudinal data that makes it possible to reveal changing patterns of overweight and obesity from age 7 years to 18 years, with minimal selection bias.

Material and Methods

From two target populations, all born in 1973 and 1981 and living in Sweden as of 31 December 1989, two study populations were sampled, including all individuals born on the 15th of any month. Data for these two samples were collected from school health records from all of Sweden, where trained nurses had taken all measurements. Table 1 presents the study populations, data sources, and sample sizes.

The study population for the 1973 cohort consists of 3,749 children, and the number of missing

Results

Table 2 presents the cross-sectionally based comparison of the 1973 and 1981 cohorts.

Discussion

Comparing BMI figures for two nationally representative samples of children born in 1973 and 1981 revealed a positive secular change at all ages. Over 8 years, the prevalence of both overweight and obesity increased, and obesity has grown more severe among both boys and girls. A notable feature is that the mean BMI achieved at one age in the 1973 cohort is generally achieved 1 year earlier in the 1981 cohort. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time, except in the case of examples

Conclusion

To monitor changes in growth patterns among children and adolescents in a large population, it is important to have data that are representative; in this study we have achieved representativity in many basic respects. We can conclude that there is a marked positive change in BMI among both boys and girls from age 7 to 18 years; furthermore, a visible positive secular change in the height of both boys and girls is still evident in Sweden. In the same two cohorts, we earlier found a time change

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