Secular changes in height, weight and body mass index in Hong Kong Children.
BACKGROUND
Large population growth surveys of children and adolescents aged 6 to 18 y were undertaken in Hong Kong in 1963 and 1993. The global epidemic of obesity is a major public health concern. To monitor the impact of this epidemic in Hong Kong children and to identify secular changes in growth, a further growth survey was undertaken in 2005/6.


METHODS
Cross-sectional height and weight measurements of 14,842 children and adolescents aged 6 to 18 y from Hong Kong's 18 districts were obtained during the 2005/6 school year. Percentile curves were constructed using LMS method and sex-specific percentile values of weight-for-age, height-for-age, and BMI-for-age were compared with those data from 1963 and 1993.


RESULTS
Secular changes in height, weight and BMI were noted between 1963 and 1993 and between 1993 and 2005/6. In the latter period, greater changes were observed at younger ages, and particularly in boys. On an annual basis, the 1993-2005/6 changes were less than those during 1963-1993. Using the International Obesity Task Force cut-offs, 16.7% of children were overweight or obese in 2005/6, which was a 5.1% increase since 1993.


CONCLUSIONS
These data provide policy-makers with further evidence of the secular changes in child growth and the increasing obesity epidemic among Hong Kong children.
So
Hung-Kwan
HK
Department of Paediatrics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, PR China. sohk@cuhk.edu.hk
Nelson
Edmund A S
EA
Li
Albert M
AM
Wong
Eric M C
EM
Lau
Joseph T F
JT
Guldan
Georgia S
GS
Mak
Kwok-Hang
KH
Wang
Youfa
Y
Fok
Tai-Fai
TF
Sung
Rita Y T
RY
D000293:Adolescent; D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male