Obesity and the facts – new study questions true prevalence of childhood obesity

Citation

(2005), "Obesity and the facts – new study questions true prevalence of childhood obesity", Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 35 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/nfs.2005.01735dab.022

Obesity and the facts – new study questions true prevalence of childhood obesity

Obesity and the facts – new study questions true prevalence of childhood obesity

Claims of obesity "epidemic" are not supported by evidence "Hype and exaggeration" of data may result in inappropriate health interventions.

Beliefs that childhood obesity is at epidemic levels and is rising exponentially may be no more than unsupported speculation, according to recent data from the annual Health Survey for England 2003, published by the Department of Health on 14 December 2004, and analysed by the Oxford-based Social Issues Research Centre. <!?show =0x(1)>

The new analysis shows that:

Body Mass Index (BMI) trends have been broadly flat for both boys and girls aged under 16 years in the period 1995 – 2003, with very modest increases in average BMI of around 0.5 for boys and 0.6 for girls.

The UK National Standard for assessing child obesity used by the Government's recent Public Health White Paper overstates the scale of the child obesity problem – 15.5 per cent obese – compared to the more clearly defined International Standard – 6.75 per cent obese.

Although the rates of increase of obesity under both measures are broadly similar (60-70 per cent), the difference between the numbers of children defined as obese is likely to have a significant impact on the appropriateness and scale of the measures to tackle the problem of obesity.

There is no indication of any significant change in the number of children with chronic illnesses over the past nine years. The absence of any evident deterioration in the health status of children supports the conclusion that children are not becoming fatter as fast as is widely believed

The prevalence of obesity is strongly related to age. The 16-24 year age group – both males and females – is substantially less at risk of becoming obese than older age groups, and the incidence of obesity for males in this age range has declined very slightly in recent years. Those aged 25-34 have the second lowest rates of obesity. Middle aged people and those of retirement age are the most "at-risk" groups.

More young men and women in the 16-24 age group have a "desirable" BMI of between 20 and 25 than any other BMI category. Men of this age are twice as likely to be underweight as they are to be obese.

SIRC's report concludes:

We do no service to the people at risk of obesity-related morbidities in our society by "hyping" their plight, exaggerating their numbers or diverting limited educational, medical and financial resources away from where the problems really lie. Banning advertising of "junk food" to children and similar measures may be popular in some quarters, but they are targeted at the wrong age group. Most weight gain starts to occur after children leave school and become less active in adulthood. The Health Survey for England provides grounds for a serious re-think.

This article is posted at http://www.sirc.org/obesity/obesity