World Health Organization

About: World Health Organization is a government organization based out in Islamabad, Pakistan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Public health. The organization has 13330 authors who have published 22232 publications receiving 1322023 citations. The organization is also known as: World Health Organisation & WHO.

National, regional, and global trends in adult overweight and obesity prevalences

Abstract: Overweight and obesity prevalence are commonly used for public and policy communication of the extent of the obesity epidemic, yet comparable estimates of trends in overweight and obesity prevalence by country are not available. We estimated trends between 1980 and 2008 in overweight and obesity prevalence and their uncertainty for adults 20 years of age and older in 199 countries and territories. Data were from a previous study, which used a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate mean body mass index (BMI) based on published and unpublished health examination surveys and epidemiologic studies. Here, we used the estimated mean BMIs in a regression model to predict overweight and obesity prevalence by age, country, year, and sex. The uncertainty of the estimates included both those of the Bayesian hierarchical model and the uncertainty due to cross-walking from mean BMI to overweight and obesity prevalence. The global age-standardized prevalence of obesity nearly doubled from 6.4% (95% uncertainty interval 5.7-7.2%) in 1980 to 12.0% (11.5-12.5%) in 2008. Half of this rise occurred in the 20 years between 1980 and 2000, and half occurred in the 8 years between 2000 and 2008. The age-standardized prevalence of overweight increased from 24.6% (22.7-26.7%) to 34.4% (33.2-35.5%) during the same 28-year period. In 2008, female obesity prevalence ranged from 1.4% (0.7-2.2%) in Bangladesh and 1.5% (0.9-2.4%) in Madagascar to 70.4% (61.9-78.9%) in Tonga and 74.8% (66.7-82.1%) in Nauru. Male obesity was below 1% in Bangladesh, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Ethiopia, and was highest in Cook Islands (60.1%, 52.6-67.6%) and Nauru (67.9%, 60.5-75.0%). Globally, the prevalence of overweight and obesity has increased since 1980, and the increase has accelerated. Although obesity increased in most countries, levels and trends varied substantially. These data on trends in overweight and obesity may be used to set targets for obesity prevalence as requested at the United Nations high-level meeting on Prevention and Control of NCDs.

Global, Regional, and National Estimates of Rotavirus Mortality in Children <5 Years of Age, 2000-2013.

Abstract: Background Rotavirus vaccine is recommended for routine use in all countries globally. To facilitate decision making on rotavirus vaccine adoption by countries, help donors prioritize investments in health interventions, and monitor vaccine impact, we estimated rotavirus mortality for children Methods We searched PubMed using the keyword "rotavirus" to identify studies that met each of the following criteria: data collection midpoint in year 1998 or later, study period of a 12-month increment, and detection of rotavirus infection by enzyme immunoassay in at least 100 children Results Globally, we estimated that the number of rotavirus deaths in children Discussion While rotavirus vaccine had been introduced in >60 countries worldwide by the end of 2013, the majority of countries using rotavirus vaccine during the review period were low-mortality countries and the impact of rotavirus vaccine on global estimates of rotavirus mortality has been limited. Continued monitoring of rotavirus mortality rates and deaths through rotavirus surveillance will aid in monitoring the impact of vaccination.

Serum total cholesterol and long-term coronary heart disease mortality in different cultures. Twenty-five-year follow-up of the seven countries study

Abstract: Objective. —To compare the relationship between serum total cholesterol and long-term mortality from coronary heart disease (CHD) in different cultures. Design. —Total cholesterol was measured at baseline (1958 through 1964) and at 5- and 10-year follow-up in 12 467 men aged 40 through 59 years in 16 cohorts located in seven countries: five European countries, the United States, and Japan. To increase statistical power six cohorts were formed, based on similarities in culture and cholesterol changes during the first 10 years of follow-up. Main Outcome Measures. —Relative risks (RRs), estimated with Cox proportional hazards (survival) analysis, for 25-year CHD mortality for cholesterol quartiles and per 0.50-mmol/L (20-mg/dL) cholesterol increase. Adjustment was made for age, smoking, and systolic blood pressure. Results. —The age-standardized CHD mortality rates in the six cohorts ranged from 3% to 20%. The RRs for the highest compared with the lowest cholesterol quartile ranged from 1.5 to 2.3, except for Japan's RR of 1.1. For a cholesterol level of around 5.45 mmol/L (210 mg/dL), CHD mortality rates varied from 4% to 5% in Japan and Mediterranean Southern Europe to about 15% in Northern Europe. However, the relative increase in CHD mortality due to a given cholesterol increase was similar in all cultures except Japan. Using a linear approximation, a 0.50-mmol/L (20-mg/dL) increase in total cholesterol corresponded to an increase in CHD mortality risk of 12%, which became an increase in mortality risk of 17% when adjusted for regression dilution bias. Conclusion. —Across cultures, cholesterol is linearly related to CHD mortality, and the relative increase in CHD mortality rates with a given cholesterol increase is the same. The large difference in absolute CHD mortality rates at a given cholesterol level, however, indicates that other factors, such as diet, that are typical for cultures with a low CHD risk are also important with respect to primary prevention. (JAMA. 1995;274:131-136)