Reversal of the Upward Trend of Obesity in Boys, but Not in Girls, in Spain

Romana Albaladejo-Vicente, Rosa Villanueva-Orbaiz, David Carabantes-Alarcon, Juana Santos-Sancho, Rodrigo Jiménez-García, Enrique Regidor, Romana Albaladejo-Vicente, Rosa Villanueva-Orbaiz, David Carabantes-Alarcon, Juana Santos-Sancho, Rodrigo Jiménez-García, Enrique Regidor

Abstract

(1) Background: To compare the prevalence of overweight and obesity in boys and girls and to estimate socioeconomic differences associated with obesity in Spain in 1997, 2007, and 2017. (2) Methods: Data were drawn from national health interview surveys. For each year of study, the prevalence of overweight and obesity was measured, and these results were compared by gender (boy/girl) and socioeconomic status (low/high education). (3) Results: The prevalence of overweight and obesity rose from 1997 to 2007 but then fell in 2017 in all subgroups except in girls aged 10 to 15 years. In this group, there was a steady increase in the prevalence of both overweight (1997, 14.6%; 2007, 17.7%; 2017, 19.6%) and obesity (1.1, 3.2, and 3.7%, respectively). The decrease in prevalence of overweight in both sexes and of obesity in boys, along with the increase in prevalence of obesity in girls, was of a higher magnitude in children whose parents had a lower educational level. (4) Conclusions: The apparent turnaround in the obesity epidemic in Spain should be interpreted with caution. Children's body weight is influenced by both gender and socioeconomic status-considerations that should be kept in mind when designing health promotion interventions.

Keywords: children; diabetes; obesity; overweight; prevalence; prevention; surveys.

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Prevalence of overweight in boys and girls aged 5 to 15 years, Spain (1997, 2007, and 2017).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Prevalence of obesity in boys and girls aged 5 to 15 years, Spain (1997, 2007, and 2017).

References

    1. Hernández-Cordero S., Cuevas-Nasu L., Morán-Ruán M.C., Humaran I.M.G., Ávila-Arcos M.A., Rivera-Dommarco J.A. Overweight and obesity in Mexican children and adolescents during the last 25 years. Nutr. Diabetes. 2017;7:e247. doi: 10.1038/nutd.2016.52.
    1. World Health Organization. Joint WHO/FAO . Expert Consultation on Diet, Nutrition and the Prevention of Chronic Disease 2002. World Health Organization; Geneva, Switzerland: 2003. (WHO Technical Report Series 916).
    1. Hamřík Z., Sigmundová D., Pavelka J., Kalman M., Sigmund E. Trends in Overweight and Obesity in Czech Schoolchildren from 1998 to 2014. Cent. Eur. J. Public Health. 2017;25:S10–S14. doi: 10.21101/cejph.a5099.
    1. Sigmund E., Baďura P., Sigmundova D., Voráčová J., Zacpal J., Kalman M., Pavelka J., Vokacova J., Hobza V.J., Hamrik Z. Trends and correlates of overweight/obesity in Czech adolescents in relation to family socioeconomic status over a 12-year study period (2002–2014) BMC Public Health. 2018;18:122. doi: 10.1186/s12889-017-5013-1.
    1. Ogden C.L., Carroll M.D., Kit B.K., Flegal K.M. Prevalence of Obesity and Trends in Body Mass Index among US Children and Adolescents, 1999-2010. JAMA. 2012;307:483–490. doi: 10.1001/jama.2012.40.
    1. Van Jaarsveld C.H., Gulliford M.C. Childhood obesity trends from primary care electronic health records in England between 1994 and 2013: Population-based cohort study. Arch. Dis. Child. 2015;100:214–219. doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2014-307151.
    1. Wang Y., Lim H. The global childhood obesity epidemic and the association between socio-economic status and childhood obesity. Int. Rev. Psychiatry. 2012;24:176–188. doi: 10.3109/09540261.2012.688195.
    1. Miqueleiz E., Lostao L., Regidor E. Stabilization of the trend in prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity in Spain: 2001–11. Eur. J. Public Health. 2016;26:960–963. doi: 10.1093/eurpub/ckw087.
    1. McLaren L. Socioeconomic Status and Obesity. Epidemiol. Rev. 2007;29:29–48. doi: 10.1093/epirev/mxm001.
    1. Batty G.D., Leon D.A. Socio-economic position and coronary heart disease risk factors in children and young people. Evidence from UK epidemiological studies. Eur. J. Public Health. 2002;12:263–272. doi: 10.1093/eurpub/12.4.263.
    1. Shrewsbury V., Wardle J. Socioeconomic Status and Adiposity in Childhood: A Systematic Review of Cross-sectional Studies 1990-2005. Obesity. 2008;16:275–284. doi: 10.1038/oby.2007.35.
    1. Noh J.W., Kim Y.E., Park J., Oh I.H., Kwon Y.D. Impact of parental socioeconomic status on childhood and adolescent over-weight and underweight in Korea. J. Epidemiol. 2014;24:221–229. doi: 10.2188/jea.JE20130056.
    1. Stunkard A., D’Aquili E., Fox S., Filion R.D.L. Influence of Social Class on Obesity and Thinness in Children. JAMA. 1972;221:579. doi: 10.1001/jama.1972.03200190023005.
    1. Cole T.J., Bellizzi M.C., Flegal K.M., Dietz W.H. Establishing a standard definition for child overweight and obesity world-wide: International survey. BMJ. 2000;320:1240–1243. doi: 10.1136/bmj.320.7244.1240.
    1. Galobardes B., Shaw M., Lawlor D.A., Davey Smith G., Lynch J. Indicators of socioeconomic position. In: Oakes J.M., Kauf-man J.S., editors. Methods in Social Epidemiology. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.; San Francisco, CA, USA: 2006. pp. 47–85.
    1. Garcia-Marcos L., Valverde-Molina J., Sanchez-Solis M., Soriano-Pérez M.J., Baeza-Alcaraz A., Martinez-Torres A., Perez-Fernandez V., Guillen-Perez J.J. Validity of parent-reported height and weight for defining obesity among asthmatic and nonasthmatic schoolchildren. Int. Arch. Allergy Immunol. 2006;139:139–145. doi: 10.1159/000090389.
    1. Galán I., Gandarillas A., Febrel C., Meseguer C.M. Validation of self-reported weight and height in an adolescent popula-tion. Gac. Sanit. 2001;15:490–497. doi: 10.1016/S0213-9111(01)71611-1.
    1. Sekine M., Yamagami T., Hamanishi S., Kagamimori S. Accuracy of the Estimated Prevalence of Childhood Obesity from Height and Weight Values Reported by Parents: Results of the Toyama Birth Cohort Study. J. Epidemiol. 2002;12:9–13. doi: 10.2188/jea.12.9.
    1. Strauss R.S. Comparison of measures and self-reported weight and height in a cross-sectional sample of young adolescents. Int. J. Obes. Relat. Metab. Disord. 1999;23:904–908. doi: 10.1038/sj.ijo.0800971.
    1. Brettschneider A.-K., Rosario A.S., Wiegand S., Kollock M., Ellert U. Development and Validation of Correction Formulas for Self-Reported Height and Weight to Estimate BMI in Adolescents. Results from the KiGGS Study. Obes. Facts. 2015;8:30–42. doi: 10.1159/000375109.
    1. Navalpotro L., Regidor E., Ortega P., Martínez D., Villanueva R., Astasio P. Area-based socioeconomic environment, obesity risk behaviours, area facilities and childhood overweight and obesity. Prev. Med. 2012;55:102–107. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2012.05.012.
    1. Salcedo V., Gutiérrez-Fisac J.L., Guallar-Castillón P., Rodríguez-Artalejo F. Trends in overweight and misperceived over-weight in Spain from 1987 to 2007. Int. J. Obes. 2010;34:1759–1765. doi: 10.1038/ijo.2010.96.
    1. Miqueleiz E., Lostao L., Ortega P., Santos J.M., Astasio P., Regidor E. Trends in the prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity according to socioeconomic status: Spain, 1987–2007. Eur. J. Clin. Nutr. 2013;68:209–214. doi: 10.1038/ejcn.2013.255.
    1. De Bont J., Díaz Y., Casas M., García-Gil M., Vrijheid M., Guarte-Salles T. Time Trends and Sociodemographic Factors Associated With Overweight and Obesity in Children and Adolescents in Spain. JAMA Netw. Open. 2020;3:e211171. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.1171.
    1. Keß A., Spielau U., Beger C., Gausche R., Vogel M., Lipek T., Körner A., Pfäffle R., Kiess W. Further stabilization and even decrease in the prevalence rates of overweight and obesity in German children and adolescents from 2005 to 2015: A cross-sectional and trend analysis. Public Health Nutr. 2017;20:3075–3083. doi: 10.1017/S1368980017002257.
    1. NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC) Worldwide trends in body-mass index, underweight, overweight, and obesity from 1975 to 2016: A pooled analysis of 2416 population-based measurement studies in 128•9 million children, adolescents, and adults. Lancet. 2017;390:2627–2642. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)32129-3.
    1. Bygdell M., Ohlsson C., Célind J., Saternus J., Sondén A., Kindblom J.M. The rise and the recent decline of childhood obesity in Swedish boys: The BEST cohort. Int. J. Obes. 2017;41:807–812. doi: 10.1038/ijo.2017.23.
    1. Kovacs V.A., Bakacs M., Kaposvári C., Illés É., Erdei G., Martos É., Breda J. Weight Status of 7-Year-Old Hungarian Children between 2010 and 2016 Using Different Classifications (COSI Hungary) Obes. Facts. 2018;11:195–205. doi: 10.1159/000487327.
    1. Olds T., Maher C., Zumin S., Péneau S., Lioret S., Castetbon K., Bellisle F., De Wilde J., Hohepa M., Maddison R., et al. Evidence that the prevalence of childhood overweight is plateauing: Data from nine countries. Pediatr. Obes. 2011;6:342–360. doi: 10.3109/17477166.2011.605895.
    1. Ahluwalia N., Dalmasso P., Rasmussen M., Lipsky L., Currie C., Haug E., Kelly C., Damsgaard M.T., Due P., Tabak I., et al. Trends in overweight prevalence among 11-, 13- and 15-year-olds in 25 countries in Europe, Canada and USA from 2002 to 2010. Eur. J. Public Health. 2015;25:28–32. doi: 10.1093/eurpub/ckv016.
    1. Cadenas-Sanchez C., Nyström C., Sanchez-Delgado G., Martinez-Tellez B., Mora-Gonzalez J., Risinger A.S., Ruiz J.R., Ortega F.B., Lof M. Preva-lence of overweight/obesity and fitness level in preschool children from the north compared with the south of Europe: An exploration with two countries. Pediatr. Obes. 2016;11:403–410. doi: 10.1111/ijpo.12079.
    1. Keane E., Kearney P.M., Perry I.J., Kelleher C.C., Harrington J.M. Trends and prevalence of overweight and obesity in pri-mary school aged children in the Republic of Ireland from 2002–2012: A systematic review. BMC Public Health. 2014;14:e974. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-14-974.
    1. Sjöberg A., Lissner L., Mårild S., Albertsson-Wikland K. Recent anthropometric trends among Swedish school children: Evidence for decreasing prevalence of overweight in girls. Acta Paediatr. 2008;97:118–123. doi: 10.1111/j.1651-2227.2007.00613.x.
    1. Rasmussen M., Damsgaard M.T., Morgen C.S., Kierkegaard L., Toftager M., Rosenwein S.V., Krølner R.F., Due P., Holstein B.E. Trends in social inequality in overweight and obesity among adolescents in Denmark 1998–2018. Int. J. Public Health. 2020;65:607–616. doi: 10.1007/s00038-020-01342-1.
    1. Barriuso L., Miqueleiz E., Albaladejo R., Villanueva R., Santos J.M., Regidor E. Socioeconomic position and child-hood-adolescent weight status in rich countries: A systematic review, 1990–2013. BMC Pediatr. 2015;15:e129. doi: 10.1186/s12887-015-0443-3.
    1. Currie C., Gabhainn S., Godeau E., Roberts C., Smith R., Currie D., Picket W., Richter M., Morgan A., Barnekow V. Inequalities in Young People’s Health. HBSC International Report from the 2005/2006 Survey. World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe; Copenhagen, Denmark: 2008.
    1. Pedersen D.C., Aarestrup J., Pearson S., Baker J.L. Ethnic Inequalities in Overweight and Obesity Prevalence among Copenhagen Schoolchildren from 2002 to 2007. Obes. Facts. 2016;9:284–295. doi: 10.1159/000446482.
    1. Knai C., Lobstein T., Darmon N., Rutter H., McKee M. Socioeconomic Patterning of Childhood Overweight Status in Europe. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health. 2012;9:1472–1489. doi: 10.3390/ijerph9041472.
    1. White J., Rehkopf D., Mortensen L.H. Trends in Socioeconomic Inequalities in Body Mass Index, Underweight and Obesity among English Children, 2007–2008 to 2011–2012. PLoS ONE. 2016;11:e0147614. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0147614.
    1. Noonan R.J. Prevalence of Childhood Overweight and Obesity in Liverpool between 2006 and 2012: Evidence of Widening Socioeconomic Inequalities. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health. 2018;15:2612. doi: 10.3390/ijerph15122612.
    1. Lissner L., Wijnhoven T.M.A., Mehlig K., Sjöberg A., Kunesova M., Yngve A., Petrauskiene A., Duleva V., Rito A.I., Breda J. Socioeconomic inequalities in childhood overweight: Heterogeneity across five countries in the WHO European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (CO-SI–2008) Int. J. Obes. 2016;40:796–802. doi: 10.1038/ijo.2016.12.
    1. Latomme J., Van Stappen V., Cardon G., Morgan P.J., Lateva M., Chakarova N., Kivelä J., Lindström J., Androutsos O., González-Gil E.M., et al. The Association between Children’s and Parents’ Co-TV Viewing and Their Total Screen Time in Six European Countries: Cross-Sectional Data from the Feel4diabetes-Study. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health. 2018;15:2599. doi: 10.3390/ijerph15112599.
    1. Lakerveld J., Brug J., Bot S., Teixeira P.J., Rutter H., Woodward E., Samdal O., Stockley L., De Bourdeaudhuij I., Van Assema P., et al. Sustainable prevention of obesity through integrated strategies: The SPOTLIGHT project’s conceptual framework and design. BMC Public Health. 2012;12:793. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-12-793.
    1. Spinelli A., Buoncristiano M., Kovacs V.A., Yngve A., Spiroski I., Obreja G., Starc G., Perez N., Rito A.I., Kunesova M., et al. Prevalence of Severe Obesity among Pri-mary School Children in 21 European Countries. Obes. Facts. 2019;12:244–258. doi: 10.1159/000500436.
    1. Ng M., Fleming T., Robinson M., Thomson B., Graetz N., Margono C., Mullany E.C., Biryukov S., Abbafati C., Abera S.F., et al. Global, regional, and national prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adults during 1980–2013: A systematic analysis for the global burden of disease study 2013. Lancet. 2014;384:766–781. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(14)60460-8.

Source: PubMed

Sponsoren und Mitarbeiter

Krankheiten

Drogeninterventionen

3
Abonnieren