Prevalence of overweight and obesity among secondary school children aged 14 to 18 years (china).

Background: Prevalence of overweight and obesity in adolescents has been increasing during recent decades. The present study aimed to assess the prevalence of obesity in 14-18 years old Anhui Secondary school children, and provide more comprehensive guidelines for intervention programs.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 4788 children in secondary school, and date from the routine health survey was analyzed. Trained health workers took anthropometric measures, height and weight, at the school. Definition of children overweight and obesity children was based on the international age-and sex-specific body mass index reference standards proposed by the International Obesity Task Force and National Center for Health Statistics.

Results: According to the IOTF standard the prevalence of overweight (including obesity) and obesity revealed decreasing trend with age in male (overweight, from 17.3% at 14-y to 5.3% at 18-y; obesity, from 3.8% at 14-y to 2.3% at 18-y). Depending on the NCHS references used, the overall prevalence of overweight (including obesity) and obesity in male aged 14 to 18 decreases from 16.4% to 11.7% and from 4.6% to 2.8%, respectively.

Conclusion: The overweight (including obesity) and obesity from 14 to 18 years old have a decreasing trend, and more attention should be taken to male students in China. These findings suggest secondary school and government need to design appropriate guidelines to keep healthy for adolescents in China.