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| February 2002, Volume 26, Number 2, Pages 214-219 |
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| Paper |
| Prevalence and risk factors for overweight and obesity in children from Seychelles, a country in rapid transition: the importance of early growth |
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| N Stettler1,2, P Bovet3,5, H Shamlaye4, B S Zemel1, V A Stallings1 and F Paccaud5 |
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1The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
2Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA
3Unit for Prevention and Control of Cardiovascular Disease in Seychelles, Republic of Seychelles
4Ministry of Health, Victoria, Republic of Seychelles
5Institute for Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
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Correspondence to: N Stettler, Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, 8th Floor Blockley Hall, 423 Guardian Drive, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6021, USA. E-mail: nstettle@cceb.med.upenn.edu |
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| Abstract |
| OBJECTIVES: To establish the prevalence of overweight and obesity and related risk factors in children from Seychelles (Indian Ocean), a country in rapid economic and epidemiological transition. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study with retrospective access to early life data. SUBJECTS: All children from all schools of Seychelles, in four selected school grades (kindergarten, fourth, seventh and tenth year of obligatory school) in 1999. A total of 5514 children aged 4.5-17.4 y were measured, corresponding to 83.5% of the eligible population. MEASUREMENTS: Overweight and obesity, using age- and sex-specific body mass index (BMI) cut-off points as defined by the International Obesity Task Force. RESULTS: Some 12.6% (95% confidence interval: 11.8-13.5%) of the children were overweight and 3.8% (3.3-4.4%) were obese. Weight gain (kg) during the first year of life was strongly associated with subsequent overweight (odds ratio 1.46, 95% confidence interval 1.27-1.67) and obesity (1.59, 1.29-1.97) in childhood, independently of birth weight. Increased maternal BMI (kg/m2) was also associated with overweight (1.07, 1.03-1.10) and obesity (1.09, 1.04-1.14) in the offspring. CONCLUSION: Prevalence of overweight and obesity among school children in Seychelles was as high as or higher than in some industrialized countries. If confirmed in other environments, the strong association between weight gain during the first year of life and subsequent obesity in childhood could affect the way optimal infant weight gain is defined in countries where public health priorities are changing. International Journal of Obesity (2002) 26, 214-219. DOI: 10.1038/sj/ijo/0801860 |
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| Keywords |
| birth weight; child; growth; infant nutrition; Seychelles |
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| Received 21 February 2001; revised 29 June 2001; accepted 24 July 2001 |
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| February 2002, Volume 26, Number 2, Pages 214-219 |
| Table of contents Previous Abstract Next Full text PDF |
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