Meta analysis of trends of simple obesity in children aged 0-7 years old in China

Abstract

Objective To describe the change of obesity incidence over the years by evaluating simple obesity children aged 0-7 years old during 1986 to 2010 in China. Methods Relevant articles were searched for in PubMed, Cochrane Library, Chinese Science Citation Database, CBM, CNKI and Wanfang Database using the key words ofchild,overweightandsimple obesityin English and Chinese articles between Jan.1, 1980 and Jul.31, 2012.A criterion for inclusion was established based on valid criteria for diagnostic research.The eligible studies were collected and analyzed using Stata 10.0.Publication bias was tested by Begg's funnel plot.The heterogeneity test was performed at the same time.The appropriate models was used to calculate prevalence rate and 95%CI and study gender effect among children. Results Fourteen articles were included with a total of 126 310 children(66 558 boys and 59 752 girls). The rate of child obesity was 4.30%, 95%CI: 3.30%-5.40%; boys: 4.80%, 95%CI: 3.60%-6.00%; girls: 3.70%, 95%CI: 2.80%-4.60%.There was no difference between boys and girls in obesity incidence from 1986 to 1995(P>0.05), while differences appeared from 1996 to 2010(P<0.05). Conclusions In the 1986 to 2010 period both child obesity incidence and differences between boys and girls continued to increase.The government shall pay attention to such a situation at once and introduce polices to prevent the continuous development of the children simple obesity. Key words: Simple obesity; Epidemiology; Meta analysis; Child