Pediatric Obesity 

About: Pediatric Obesity is an academic journal. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Overweight & Body mass index. It has an ISSN identifier of 1747-7166. Over the lifetime, 1340 publications have been published receiving 44282 citations. The journal is also known as: International Journal of Pediatric Obesity.

Worldwide trends in childhood overweight and obesity

Abstract: Objectives. Obesity has become a global epidemic but our understanding of the problem in children is limited due to lack of comparable representative data from different countries, and varying criteria for defining obesity. This paper summarises the available information on recent trends in child overweight and obesity prevalence. Methods. PubMed was searched for data relating to trends over time, in papers published between January 1980 and October 2005. Additional studies identified by citations in retrieved papers and by consultation with experts were included. Data for trends over time were found for school-age populations in 25 countries and for pre-school populations in 42 countries. Using these reports, and data collected for the World Health Organization's Burden of Disease Program, we estimated the global prevalence of overweight and obesity among school-age children for 2006 and likely prevalence levels for 2010. Results. The prevalence of childhood overweight has increased in almost all countri...

Extended international (IOTF) body mass index cut-offs for thinness, overweight and obesity.

Abstract: SummaryBackground The international (International Obesity Task Force; IOTF) body mass index (BMI) cut-offs are widely used to assess the prevalence of child overweight, obesity and thinness. Based on data from six countries fitted by the LMS method, they link BMI values at 18 years (16, 17, 18.5, 25 and 30 kg m−2) to child centiles, which are averaged across the countries. Unlike other BMI references, e.g. the World Health Organization (WHO) standard, these cut-offs cannot be expressed as centiles (e.g. 85th). Methods To address this, we averaged the previously unpublished L, M and S curves for the six countries, and used them to derive new cut-offs defined in terms of the centiles at 18 years corresponding to each BMI value. These new cut-offs were compared with the originals, and with the WHO standard and reference, by measuring their prevalence rates based on US and Chinese data. Results The new cut-offs were virtually identical to the originals, giving prevalence rates differing by <0.2% on average. The discrepancies were smaller for overweight and obesity than for thinness. The international and WHO prevalences were systematically different before/after age 5. Conclusions Defining the international cut-offs in terms of the underlying LMS curves has several benefits. New cut-offs are easy to derive (e.g. BMI 35 for morbid obesity), and they can be expressed as BMI centiles (e.g. boys obesity = 98.9th centile), allowing them to be compared with other BMI references. For WHO, median BMI is relatively low in early life and high at older ages, probably due to its method of construction.

Evidence that the prevalence of childhood overweight is plateauing: Data from nine countries

Abstract: Until quite recently, there has been a widespread belief in the popular media and scientific literature that the prevalence of childhood obesity is rapidly increasing However, high quality evidence has emerged from several countries suggesting that the rise in the prevalence has slowed appreciably, or even plateaued This review brings together such data from nine countries (Australia, China, England, France, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland and USA), with data from 467,294 children aged 2-19 years The mean unweighted rate of change in prevalence of overweight and obesity was +000 (049)% per year across all age ×sex groups and all countries between 1995 and 2008 For overweight alone, the figure was +001 (056)%, and for obesity alone -001 (024)% Rates of change differed by sex, age, socioeconomic status and ethnicity While the prevalence of overweight and obesity appears to be stabilizing at different levels in different countries, it remains high, and a significant public health issue Possible reasons for the apparent flattening are hypothesised

Defining obesity risk status in the general childhood population: Which cut-offs should we use?

Abstract: During the past two decades, the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children has increased worldwide. Excess fat in childhood is a risk factor for later adult disease and is associated with im...

Self-esteem and quality of life in obese children and adolescents: A systematic review

Abstract: Although an increasing number of children and adolescents are becoming obese, the psychological morbidities associated with obesity are not well established. Existing reviews report modest associations between obesity and global self-esteem. However, none have examined how this affects multi-component assessments of self-esteem and quality of life in young people with defined obesity. A literature search identified 17 self-esteem and 25 quality of life studies of cross-sectional, longitudinal or intervention design published since 1994. Child-completed and parent-proxy assessments were consistent in showing significant reductions in global self-esteem and quality of life in obese youth. Competences particularly affected were physical competence, appearance and social functioning. There were no clear differences in effects between children and adolescents, and evidence on gender and ethnicity was lacking. Competency improvements occurred in the presence and absence of weight loss, suggesting their value as intervention outcomes and the need for further investigation.