Prevalence of obesity in Thailand.
The prevalence of obesity in Thailand has been doubled in the past two decades. Data from three consecutive National Health examination surveys (NHES) have shown a secular trend, as the prevalence of obesity with body mass index > or =25 kg m(-2) in adults increased from 13.0% in men and 23.2% in women in 1991 to 18.6% and 29.5% in 1997 and 22.4% and 34.3% in 2004 respectively. Obesity prevalence in children, using weight for height criteria, increased from 5.8% in 1997 to 7.9% in 2001 for the 2-5-year-olds and from 5.8% to 6.7% for the 6-12-year-olds. The data also show disproportionate increases of obesity in the rural area, which indicates the problem no longer restricts to the higher socioeconomic group.
Aekplakorn
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Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. rawap@mahidol.ac.th
Mo-Suwan
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D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D056128:Obesity, Abdominal / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013785:Thailand / Q000453:epidemiology; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D055815:Young Adult