Prevalence and behavioral risk factors of overweight and obesity among children aged 2-18 in Beijing, China.
OBJECTIVE
The study aimed to assess the prevalence of obesity and the related behavioral risk factors among children in Beijing.


METHODS
Data were collected as part of a 2004 comprehensive study on obesity and metabolic syndrome among 21 198 children, aged 2-18 years old in Beijing. Four local and international references for the classification of childhood overweight and obesity were compared.


RESULTS
The combined prevalence of obesity and overweight among children, aged 2-18 years old, was 18.7%, 21.4%, and 20.1% based on the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) reference, new World Health Organization (WHO) growth standard, and the US 2000 Center for Disease Control and Prevention Growth Charts, respectively; and it was 21.7%, according to the local Chinese body mass index (BMI) reference for school-age children (aged 7-18 years). Physical inactivity, less sleep duration, higher consumption of alcohol, snack food and Western fast food and more screen time were associated with overweight and obesity (p<0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Over 20% of children and adolescents in Beijing are overweight or obese. Effort should be made to combat the growing obesity epidemic.
Shan
Xiao-Yi
XY
Department of Epidemiology, Capital Institute of Pediatrics, Beijing, China.
Xi
Bo
B
Cheng
Hong
H
Hou
Dong-Qing
DQ
Wang
Youfa
Y
Mi
Jie
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002487:Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S.; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology*; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012309:Risk-Taking; D014481:United States; D014944:World Health Organization