Overweight and obesity in children starting school in Augsburg: prevalence and influencing factors.

Introduction: A comprehensive approach to the prevention of overweight and obesity requires identifying the socioeconomic and cultural factors involved. This study set out to determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children starting school in Augsburg, Germany. Another aim was to examine influencing factors and any associations between the findings and the children's first language.

Methods: In the context of the school entry health examination for the 2006/2007 school year, the parents of 2306 children were surveyed by means of an anonymous questionnaire. The investigators documented each child's sex, age, body weight, height, and first language, as well as the preschool attended. The data were evaluated descriptively using SPSS 14.0.

Results: Overall, 13.1% (n = 302) of the children were overweight, including 4.9% (n = 113) who were obese. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was nearly twice as high among children whose first language was not German. Half of all children did not attend a sports or dance group. More than half of the overweight children watched television for one to three hours each day.

Discussion: The prevalence of overweight and obesity differs depending on ethnic origin. Children from immigrant families are a high-risk group. Targeted prevention strategies are necessary for children of elementary school age. Our data may serve as the basis for developing neighborhood or district-wide interventions.