Recent Trends in Various Types of Obesity Among Children and Adolescents in Shandong, China

Abstract

Background: Childhood obesity has increased dramatically during the past decades. The present study examined the trends in various types of obesity among children and adolescents in Shandong, China from 2010 to 2019. Methods: Data for this study were obtained from two large cross-sectional surveys on students’ constitution and health carried out in 2010 and 2019. A total of 76 640 (38 822 in 2010 and 37 818 in 2019) students aged 7–17 years were included in this study. The body mass index (BMI) cut-offs recommended by the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) were used to define general obesity. Central obesity was defined as waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) ≥0.5. Both BMI and WHtR were used to define three types of obesity as follows: general obesity only, central obesity only and combined obesity. Results: An increasing trend was observed in general obesity only, central obesity only and combined obesity between 2010 and 2019 (P<0.01), the total prevalence of the three types of obesity has reached 25.19% for boys and 15.77% for girls in 2019. Boys and children (aged 7-12 years) had higher prevalence of obesity than girls and adolescents (aged 13-17 years), respectively (P<0.01). Profiles of obesity subtypes had an obvious change, the proportion of combined obesity increased from 40.91% and 28.30% in 2010 to 49.32% and 35.22% in 2019 for boys and girls (P<0.01). Conclusion: The prevalence of obesity among children and adolescents had rapid increase over the past 9 years, healthy lifestyle education and program interventions are necessary. Funding Statement: This study was supported by the medical and health programme of Shandong, China (2014WS0376). Surveys on students’ constitution and health are conducted under the auspices of the Department of Education in Shandong Province, China. Declaration of Interests: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Ethics Approval Statement: The study was approved by the Ethical Committee of the Shandong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shandong, China.