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Journal ArticleDOI

Prevalence of overweight and obesity in Australian children and adolescents: reassessment of 1985 and 1995 data against new standard international definitions.

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TLDR
To review the prevalence of overweight and obesity in Australian children and adolescents in two national samples, 10 years apart, using the new standard international definitions of the International Obesity Task Force Childhood Obesity Working Group is reviewed.
Abstract
Objective To review the prevalence of overweight and obesity in Australian children and adolescents in two national samples, 10 years apart, using the new standard international definitions of the International Obesity Task Force Childhood Obesity Working Group. Design Body mass index (BMI) cut-off points defining overweight and obesity were applied to the individual BMI values in the two cross-sectional samples. Setting Australian community. Participants 8,492 schoolchildren aged 7-15 years (Australian Health and Fitness Survey, 1985) and 2,962 children aged 2-18 years (National Nutrition Survey, 1995). Main outcome measure Prevalence of overweight and obesity. Results In the 1985 sample, 9.3% of boys and 10.6% of girls were overweight and a further 1.7% [corrected] of boys and 1.6% [corrected] of girls were obese. In the 1995 sample, overall 15.0% of boys (varied with age from 10.4% to 20.0%) and 15.8% of girls (varied with age from 14.5% to 17.2%) were overweight, and a further 4.5% of boys (2.4%-6.8%) and 5.3% of girls (4.2%-6.3%) were obese. The prevalence of overweight and obesity in the 1995 sample peaked at 12-15 years in boys and 7-11 years in girls. In schoolchildren aged 7-15 years, the rates represent a relative risk of overweight in 1995 compared with 1985 of 1.79 (95% CI, 1.59-2.00) and of obesity of 3.28 (95% CI, 2.51-4.29). Compared with previous estimates from these samples, the revised prevalence data are slightly higher for the 1985 data and considerably higher for the 1995 data. Conclusion The secular trend of increasing overweight and obesity in the decade from 1985 and the high prevalence rates in Australian children and adolescents are a major public health concern.

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Citations
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References
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Journal ArticleDOI

Establishing a standard definition for child overweight and obesity worldwide: international survey

TL;DR: The proposed cut off points, which are less arbitrary and more internationally based than current alternatives, should help to provide internationally comparable prevalence rates of overweight and obesity in children.
Journal ArticleDOI

Health Consequences of Obesity in Youth: Childhood Predictors of Adult Disease

TL;DR: The adverse effects of obesity in children and adolescents are considered and areas for future research are outlined.
Journal ArticleDOI

Body weight and mortality among women

TL;DR: A J-shaped relation between body-mass index and overall mortality is observed and when women who had never smoked were examined separately, no increase in risk was observed among the leaner women, and a more direct relation between weight and mortality emerged.
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Reference data for obesity: 85th and 95th percentiles of body mass index (wt/ht2) and triceps skinfold thickness.

TL;DR: Race-specific and population-based 85th and 95th percentiles of BMI and TSF for people aged 6-74 y were generated from anthropometric data gathered in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Survey 1 (NHANES I).
Journal ArticleDOI

The predictive value of childhood body mass index values for overweight at age 35 y.

TL;DR: It is indicated that overweight at 35 y can be predicted from BMI at younger ages, and the prediction is excellent at age 18 y, good at 13 y, but only moderate at ages younger than 13 y.
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