Nutrition and health
14 million European children are overweight
According to figures released in 2006 by the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF), around 14 million children, aged 7-11 years, are overweight - and three million of these are obese.
Each year 400,000 overweight first-graders enter school. Most of the overweight kids live in southern Europe, but northern Europe is catching up: the steepest increases in the number of obese children have been recorded in England and Poland.
The health consequences for these children are well known. They run a significantly higher risk of cardiovascular problems, diabetes or joint disease. Psycho-social problems further exacerbate the situation. Last, but not least, come the economic consequences. According to IOTF estimates, 2-8% of healthcare costs in western European countries are caused by overweight and obesity. A further increase is expected.
When is a child considered overweight?
Internationally, the agreed method to determine of the nutritional status of children is the Body Mass Index [BMI = weight/height2 (kg/m2)]. Modern scales and measuring systems, made, for example, by seca, calculate the BMI automatically after height and weight have been determined.
In children and teenagers the BMI is age and sex specific due to changes in the amount of body fat. Consequently, these factors must be taken into account: Sex specific age percentiles were established with the 90th BMI percentile being the cut-off value. This means the BMI of 90% of all children of a certain age lies below this cut-off value. If the BMI is above this 90th percentile, that child is considered overweight; if it is above the 97th percentile the child is considered obese.
Definitions: Obesity or adipositas?
In children, weight fluctuates for many reasons, so an increase is not necessarily problematic. The word adipositas is used when body fat increases to such a degree that it affects a person’s health.
The fact that increasing numbers of children are overweight cannot be reduced to a single factor. According to experts contributors to this escalating problem are: food high in fat and energy dense; changing eating habits; overall lack of physical exercise and their social background. Therefore any treatment should apply a multidisciplinary approach and aim at a sustainable lifestyle change.
This article was published on 03/08/2007
