Trends in excess of weight, underweight and adiposity among Spanish children from 2004 to 2010: the Cuenca Study

Abstract

Objective: To examine the trends in BMI and adiposity among schoolchildren from Cuenca, Spain, during 2004Spain, during -2010. Design: Two methodologically comparable surveys were carried out in 2004 and 2010. Setting: Primary schools in Cuenca, a province in the middle of Spain. Subjects: All schoolchildren aged 8-11 years, belonging to 4th and 5th grades from twenty schools in the Province of Cuenca, were invited to participate in both cross-sectional studies. Weight, height and body fat percentage (BF%) from bioelectrical impedance were measured with standardized procedures. Results: The study included 550 boys and 539 girls in 2004, and 569 boys and 531 girls in 2010. In 2010, 8?1 % of children were underweight, 25?9 % overweight and 9?5 % obese. From 2004 to 2010, the prevalence of overweight rose from 21?6 % to 28?0 % (P 5 0?004) and BF % increased from 22?6 % to 24?0 % (P 5 0?001) among boys. No change was observed in overweight and BF % in girls, or in underweight and obesity in either sex. In boys, most of the distribution of BMI and BF % shifted to the right; in contrast, among girls no substantial change was apparent in the distribution of BMI and BF %. Conclusions: From 2004 to 2010 the prevalence of overweight and adiposity has continued to increase among boys. However, the obesity epidemic may have levelled off in girls. Given that the prevalence of childhood excess weight is still very high, the current evidence-based efforts to halt the obesity epidemic in Spain should be strengthened.

Prevalence of overweight, obesity and underweight in Western Australian school-aged children; 2008 compared with 2003

“…Internationally, recent research has indicated some levelling off in the overweight prevalence in girls (2) and boys (3) . However, a reduction in overweight prevalence has been noted in girls (3) .…”

Programas para la prevención de la obesidad en escolares de 5 a 10 Años: Revisión de la literatura

“…España ha sido el país donde más estudios se han realizado, con un total de seis (2,4,10,19,25,34), el segundo país ha sido Inglaterra, con un total de 3 estudios (3,30,31), con 2 intervenciones está Alemania (5,26), Francia (13,29), Chile (18,32,35) Tabla I. Referencias de los estudios científicos seleccionados (n = 28) y Estados Unidos (1,33) y, por último, con una intervención se encuentran Nueva Zelanda (6), Turquía (27), Islandia (24), Suecia (28), Sur África (23), México (36), Georgia (7) y la India (22). En relación al contexto donde se desarrollan las intervenciones, en la tabla II se puede observar que 8 de ellas se desarrollaron en horario extraescolar, 1 fuera del entorno escolar y 14 en horario escolar.…”

“…Un total de 101.193 escolares fueron incluidos en los diversos trabajos analizados (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)10,13,18,19,(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)33,34,36).…”

“…La duración de las sesiones en la mayoría de los estudios fue de una hora (1,2,13,22-24), seguido de hora y media (4,25,34) y dos horas (7,27,29). Las duraciones de la sesiones más cortas fueron las de 25 minutos (30) y 40 minutos (28), y a su vez las menos utilizadas (Tabla V).…”

“…Se utilizaron varias pruebas para determinar las mejoras en las distintas variables. La variable IMC es valoró en 19 de las 24 intervenciones, obteniendo en 9 de ellas mejoras significativas (3)(4)(5)6,13,18,24,25,27). Las variables masa grasa y masa libre de grasa se evaluaron en 9 de las 24 intervenciones.…”