Browsing by Author "Rutter, H"
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- WHO European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative 2008: weight, height and body mass index in 6–9-year-old childrenPublication . Wijnhoven, T.M.A.; van Raaij, J.M.A.; Spinelli, A; Rito, A.I.; Hovengen, R.; Kunesova, M.; Starc, G.; Rutter, H; Sjoberg, A; Petrauskiene, A.; O'Dwyer, U.; Petrova, S.; Farrugia Sant'Angelo, V.; Wauters, M; Yngve, A.; Rubana, I.M.; Breda, JBackground: Nutritional surveillance in school-age children, using measured weight and height, is not common in the European Region of the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO Regional Office for Europe has therefore initiated the WHO European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative. Objective: To present the anthropometric results of data collected in 2007/2008 and to investigate whether there exist differences across countries and between the sexes. Methods: Weight and height were measured in 6–9-year-old children in 12 countries. Prevalence of overweight, obesity, stunting, thinness and underweight as well as mean Z-scores of anthropometric indices of height, weight and body mass index were calculated. Results: A total of 168 832 children were included in the analyses and a school participation rate of more than 95% was obtained in 8 out of 12 countries. Stunting, underweight and thinness were rarely prevalent. However, 19.3-49.0% of boys and 18.4-42.5% of girls were overweight (including obesity and based on the 2007 WHO growth reference).The prevalence of obesity ranged from 6.0 to 26.6% among boys and from 4.6 to 17.3% among girls. Multi-country comparisons suggest the presence of a north–south gradient with the highest level of overweight found in southern European countries. Conclusions: Overweight among 6–9-year-old children is a serious public health concern and its variation across the European Region highly depends on the country. Comparable monitoring of child growth is possible across Europe and should be emphasized in national policies and implemented as part of action plans.
- WHO European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative: body mass index and level of overweight among 6-9-year-old children from school year 2007/2008 to school year 2009/2010Publication . Wijnhoven, TA; van Raaij, J; Spinelli A, A; Starc, G; Hassapidou, M; Spiroski, I; Rutter, H; Martos, E; Rito, AI; et, al.Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe has established the Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (COSI) to monitor changes in overweight in primary-school children. The aims of this paper are to present the anthropometric results of COSI Round 2 (2009/2010) and to explore changes in body mass index (BMI) and overweight among children within and across nine countries from school years 2007/2008 to 2009/2010. Methods: Using cross-sectional nationally representative samples of 6−9-year-olds, BMI, anthropometric Z-scores and overweight prevalence were derived from measured weight and height. Significant changes between rounds were assessed using variance and t-tests analyses. Results: At Round 2, the prevalence of overweight (including obesity; WHO definitions) ranged from 18% to 57% among boys and from 18% to 50% among girls; 6 − 31% of boys and 5 − 21% of girls were obese. Southern European countries had the highest overweight prevalence. Between rounds, the absolute change in mean BMI (range: from −0.4 to +0.3) and BMI-for-age Z-scores (range: from −0.21 to +0.14) varied statistically significantly across countries. The highest significant decrease in BMI-for-age Z-scores was found in countries with higher absolute BMI values and the highest significant increase in countries with lower BMI values. The highest significant decrease in overweight prevalence was observed in Italy, Portugal and Slovenia and the highest significant increase in Latvia and Norway. Conclusions: Changes in BMI and prevalence of overweight over a two-year period varied significantly among European countries. It may be that countries with higher prevalence of overweight in COSI Round 1 have implemented interventions to try to remedy this situation.