title: Overweight in school-aged children and its relationship with demographic and lifestyle factors: results from the WHO-Collaborative Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine overweight prevalence and its association with demographic and lifestyle factors in 11-15 year olds in the HBSC 2005-2006 survey.
  
  
  METHODS
  Self-reports of height, weight, eating patterns, physical activity and sedentary behaviours were obtained from nationally representative samples in 41 countries (n=204,534).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overweight prevalence was highest in USA (28.8 %) and lowest in Latvia (7.6 %). In most countries, overweight was more prevalent in boys than girls. Overweight was consistently negatively associated with breakfast consumption and moderate to vigorous physical activity; OR range: 0.48-0.79 and 0.50-0.78, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overweight prevalence in youth remained high across the countries examined. The primary factors linked to overweight were breakfast consumption and physical activity. These data should contribute to formulating preventive programs and policies.
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Health Promotion, Faculty of Psychology, University of Bergen, Norway.
authors.forename: Ellen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Haug
authors.forename: Mette
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rasmussen
authors.forename: Oddrun
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Samdal
authors.forename: Ron
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Iannotti
authors.forename: Colette
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Borraccino
authors.forename: Carine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vereecken
authors.forename: Ole
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Melkevik
authors.forename: Giacomo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lazzeri
authors.forename: Mariano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Giacchi
authors.forename: Oya
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ercan
authors.forename: Pernille
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Due
authors.forename: Ulrike
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Ravens-Sieberer
authors.forename: Candace
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Currie
authors.forename: Antony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Morgan
authors.forename: Namanjeet
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ahluwalia
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003710:Demography; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D057185:Sedentary Behavior; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014944:World Health Organization