Prevalence of overweight, obesity and underweight among 5-year-old children in Saint Lucia by three methods of classification and a comparison with historical rates.
BACKGROUND
The study aimed to determine if child obesity rates have risen in the Caribbean nation of Saint Lucia, as found globally, and whether under-nutrition coexists, as in other developing nations. The average adult in Saint Lucia is overweight, thus considerable child obesity might be expected, but there are no current data.


METHODS
Heights and weights were obtained from a sample (n= 425) of the 2001 birth cohort of Saint Lucian children measured during the nation-wide 2006/2007 Prior to School Entry Five-Year Assessment. Prevalence of overweight, obesity and underweight were estimated by Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Cole et al. and new World Health Organization (WHO) methods. Previously reported 1976 estimates, including children ≤60 months of age only, based on National Centre for Health Statistics curves, were adjusted to new WHO equivalents using an algorithm developed by Yang and de Onis, and compared with rates in our subsample of children ≤60 months of age (n= 99).


RESULTS
Regardless of classification method, overweight and obesity rates were high: 14.4% and 9.2% (WHO); 11.3% and 12.0% (CDC); and 9.9% and 7.1% (Cole et al.), respectively. Underweight estimates also varied: 4.7% (WHO); 11.3% (CDC) and 6.6% (Cole et al.). Obesity in our young subsample (15.2%; WHO) was more than 3 times the adjusted 1976 rate (4.3%).


CONCLUSIONS
Obesity among Saint Lucian pre-schoolers has tripled in 30 years. Our findings also suggest that this country, like many undergoing a 'nutrition transition', faces the dual challenge of over-nutrition and under-nutrition. Routine monitoring of overweight and underweight is needed in Saint Lucia, as is the implementation and evaluation of programmes to address these problems.
Gardner
K
K
Community Paediatrician, National Child and Adolescent Health Program, Ministry of Health, Government of Saint Lucia, Castries, Saint Lucia.
Bird
J
J
Canning
P M
PM
Frizzell
L M
LM
Smith
L M
LM
D015992:Body Mass Index; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D006801:Humans; D009752:Nutritional Status; D050177:Overweight / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D019431:Saint Lucia / Q000453:epidemiology; D012737:Sex Factors; D013851:Thinness / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D013997:Time Factors