[Has the obesity epidemic reached Norway?].
BACKGROUND
The prevalence of obesity has increased worldwide during the last decades. The goal of this article is to explore whether the obesity epidemic has reached Norway.


METHODS
We have conducted a literature review where we identified and summarized recent population studies of prevalence, distribution and development trends of obesity among adults in Norway. We searched for articles from the last 5 years in PubMed, Google, Kvasir and Yahoo, with the search words "obes*", "prevalence" and "BMI". We included seven Norwegian population studies.


RESULTS
In the studies from 2000-2003, the prevalence of obesity (BMI > or = 30) was 11-29% (median 19.5%) for men and 9-38% (median 20%) for women. The prevalence of obese men aged 40-45 years has increased steadily from 1965-69 until today. The prevalence of obese women decreased from 1965-69 to 1984 before it started to increase steadily up till 2000-2003.


CONCLUSIONS
Our review shows that the obesity epidemic has reached Norway, but the prevalence among all age groups should be established before we can determine the epidemic's extent.
Ulset
Elisabeth
E
Institutt for samfunnsmedisinske fag, Universitetet i Bergen, Kalfarveien 31, 5018 Bergen.
Undheim
Rut
R
Malterud
Kirsti
K
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012737:Sex Factors