Short Communication
International Journal of Obesity (2005) 29, 875–877. doi:10.1038/sj.ijo.0802989 Published online 10 May 2005
The obesity epidemic in young men is not confined to low social classes—a time series of 18-year-old German men at medical examination for military service with different educational attainment
A M Toschke1, R Lüdde2, R Eisele2 and R von Kries1
- 1Institute of Social Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Munich, Germany
- 2Bundeswehr Institute of Medical Statistics and Data Processing, Andernach, Germany
Correspondence: Dr AM Toschke, Division of Pediatric Epidemiology, Institute of Social Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Heiglhofstr. 63, D-81377 Munich, Germany. E-mail: toschke@biostats.info, URL: http://www.epiresearch.info
Received 18 September 2004; Revised 28 February 2005; Accepted 17 March 2005; Published online 10 May 2005.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE:
Obesity prevalence is increasing worldwide and obesity is associated with low education. To assess if the overall increase of obesity prevalence is due to increasing obesity prevalence among low educated strata only.
DESIGN:
Data on n=1 883 783 males in their 19th year of life seen at physical examinations due to general conscription in Germany from 1989 to 1998.
MEASUREMENTS:
Stature and weight were measured in underpants and obesity defined as body mass index>30 kg/m2.
RESULTS:
From 1989 to 1998 an increase of body mass index values >70th percentile was observed. Overall obesity prevalence increased from 3.4% (95% CI 3.3–3.5) to 5.7% (95% CI 5.6–5.8). During the whole observation period, the prevalence of obesity was inversely related to educational level. The increase of obesity prevalence, however, was unrelated to educational level: for education less than 10 y from 4.9% (95% CI 4.7–5.0) to 7.7% (95% CI 7.5–7.9), for education of 10 y from 2.6% (95% CI 2.5–2.7) to 5.3% (95% CI 5.1–5.5) and for education of more than 10 y from 1.6% (95% CI 1.4–1.8) to 3.4% (95%CI 3.2-3.5).
CONCLUSION:
Prevalence of obesity increased among recruits of all educational levels, suggesting that preventive measures against obesity have to target all educational levels.
Keywords:
epidemiology, secular trend, time series, weight gain, disease outbreaks, adolescence
MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS
These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated
RESEARCH
Rapid global shifts in natural scenes block spiking in specific ganglion cell types
Nature Neuroscience Article (01 Jun 2003)
