The heights and weights of Irish children from the post-war era to the Celtic tiger.
BACKGROUND
Childhood obesity is a significant global health issue. National level data on long-term secular trends are relatively sparse.


METHODS
Data were obtained from three large-scale surveys of school-aged children in Ireland involving measurements of height and weight in 1948, the 1970s and 2002.


RESULTS
Significant increases in height and weight were observed in both boys and girls and in all age groups across the decades. The increases in weight were disproportionate to the trends in height. While boys aged 14 years were 23 cm taller 2002 than in 1948, their average weight was 61 kg, compared with 37 kg in 1948, an increase of 24 kg. A substantial proportion of the increase in weight is seen between the 1970s and 2002.


CONCLUSIONS
The data provide stark and compelling evidence on the evolution of the obesity epidemic in Irish children in tandem with the increase in economic prosperity.
Perry
I J
IJ
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College Cork, Brookfield Health Sciences Complex, College Road, Cork, Republic of Ireland. i.perry@ucc.ie
Whelton
H
H
Harrington
J
J
Cousins
B
B
D000293:Adolescent; D041923:Adolescent Development / Q000502:physiology; D000886:Anthropometry / Q000379:methods; D001827:Body Height; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006128:Growth; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007494:Ireland / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D015995:Prevalence; D012922:Social Change