Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Pediatric Highlight
  • Published:

Rapid increase in the prevalence of obesity in elementary school children

International Journal of Obesity volume 28, pages 494–499 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Three critical periods have been suggested for the development of obesity during childhood: fetal, ages 4–6 y, and adolescence. The prevalence of obesity in elementary school children is increasing in Japan, and the present study examines whether this rising prevalence occurs during the elementary school period (age 6–11 y) or is occurring prior to entry into elementary school.

DESIGN: Repeated cross-sectional sampling of cohorts of children for the prevalence of obesity.

SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: The data from 81 264 first grade and 87 849 seventh grade children (94 and 87% of the total populations, respectively) between 1989 and 2002 in Kagoshima City were analyzed. Data were also obtained from nationwide surveys published by the Ministry of Japan between 1989 and 2001.

MEASUREMENTS: Obesity was defined by the body mass index for an age- and sex-specific 95th percentile cutoff point in Japanese children. Trends in obesity and odds ratios of the prevalence of obesity were also determined.

RESULTS: The period 1989–2001/2 showed significant increases in the prevalence of obesity for both genders, in both first and seventh grades, and in both Kagoshima City and nationwide. The odds ratios for the prevalence of obesity of 12-y-old children calculated against the prevalence of obesity within the same cohort at 6 y old revealed that a significant risk for development of obesity during the elementary school years applied only to boys from around 1993 onward in Kagoshima City and applied throughout the study period in nationwide Japan.

CONCLUSION: Obesity prevalence increases for boys during elementary school years but does not significantly increase for girls. A rising trend for becoming obese before starting elementary school was present for both boys and girls over the period 1989–2001. Educational programs to improve nutrition and physical activity, especially for boys, are becoming increasingly necessary.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1
Figure 2

References

  1. Ebbeling CB, Pawlak DB, Ludwig DS . Childhood obesity: public-health, common sense cure. Lancet 2002; 360: 473–482.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Hill JO, Wyatt HR, Reed GW, Peters JC . Obesity and environment: what do we go from here? Science 2003; 299: 853–855.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. de Onis M, Blossner M . Prevalence and trends of at risk of overweight among preschool children in developing countries. Am J Clin Nutr 2000; 724: 1032–1039.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Dietz WH . Critical periods in childhood for development of obesity. Am J Clin Nutr 1994; 59: 955–959.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Yoshinaga M, Koriyama C, Shimago A, Miyata K, Hashiguchi J, Imamura M . Who is becoming overweight during the elementary school years? Int J Obes Relat Metab Disorder 2002; 26: 1317–1322.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Wang Y, Ge K, Popkin BM . Tracking of body mass index from childhood to adolescence: a 6-y follow-up study in China. Am J Clin Nutr 2000; 724: 1018–1024.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Law M . Dietary fat and adult diseases and the implications for childhood nutrition: an epidemiologic approach. Am J Clin Nutr 2000; 72 (Suppl): 1291S–1296S.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Krassas GE, Tzotzas T, Tsametis C, Konstantinidis T . Prevalence and trends in overweight and obesity among children and adolescents in Thessaloniki, Greece. J Pediatr Endocrinol Metab 2001; 14 (Suppl l5): 1319–1326.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Tremblay MS, Katzmarzyk PT, Williams JD . Temporal trend in overweight and obesity in Canada, 1981–1996. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disorder 2002; 26: 538–543.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Strauss RS, Pollack HA . Epidemic increase in childhood overweight, 1986–1998. JAMA 2001; 286: 2845–2848.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in Japan. Annual report of school health statistics. The Printing Office, The Ministry of Finance, from 1979 to 2001: Tokyo (in Japanese).

  12. Himes JH, Dietz WH . Guidelines for overweight in adolescent preventive services: recommendations from an expert committee. Am J Clin Nutr 1994; 59: 307–316.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Matsuzawa Y, Inoue S, Ikeda Y, Sakata T, Saito Y, Sato Y, Shirai A, Ono M, Miyazaki S, Tokunaga M, Fukagawa K, Yamanouchi K, Nakamura T . New diagnostic criteria of obesity. J Jpn Soc Study Obes 2000; 6: 18–28, (in Japanese).

    Google Scholar 

  14. Cole TJ, Bellizzi MC, Flegal KM, Dietz WH . Establishing a standard definition for child at risk of overweight and overweight worldwide: international survey. BMJ 2000; 3207244: 1240–1243.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Anderson RE, Crespo CJ, Bartlett JB, Cheskin LJ, Pratt MP . Relationship of physical activity and televison watching with body weight and level of fatness among children. Results from the third National Health and Examination Survey. JAMA 1998; 279: 938–942.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Gordon-Larsen P, Adair LS, Popkin BM . Ethnic difference in physical activity and inactivity patterns and overweight status. Obes Res 2002; 10: 141–149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. MaMurray RG, Harrell JS, Deng S, Bradley CB, Cox LM, Banddiwala SI . The influence of physical activity, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity on the weight of adolescents. Obes Res 2000; 8: 130–139.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. O’Loughlin J, Gray-Donald K, Paradis G, Meshefedjian G . One- and two-year predictor of excess weight gain among elementary schoolchildren in multiethnic, low-income, inner-city neighborhoods. Am J Epidemiol 2000; 152: 739–746.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Robinson TN . Reducing children's television viewing to prevent obesity. A randomized controlled trial. JAMA 1999; 282: 1561–1567.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Law M . Dietary fat and adult diseases and the implications for childhood nutrition: an epidemiologic approach. Am J Clin Nutr 2000; 72 (Suppl): 1291S–1296S.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Murata M . Secular trends in growth and changes in eating patterns of Japanese children. Am J Clin Nutr 2000; 72 (Suppl): 1379S–1383S.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Gillman MW, Rifas-Shiman SL, Camargo CA, Berkey CS, Frazier AL, Rockett HRH, Field AE, Colditz GA . Risk of overweight among adolescents who were breastfed as infants. JAMA 2001; 285: 2461–2467.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Hediger ML, Overpeck MD, Kuczmarski RJ, Ruan WJ . Association between infant brestfeeding and overweight in young children. JAMA 2001; 285: 2453–2460.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. CESA – White report on games. The Computer Entertainment Software Association (CESA) edit., in 1999 and in 2002 (in Japanese).

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by Foundation for Total Health Promotion Grant 2000 and by Foundation of Tanita Healthy Weight Promotion Grant 2001. Drafting assistance was donated by the International Obesity Task Force, London, UK.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics and Public Health, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima, Japan

    M Yoshinaga, A Shimago, C Koriyama, Y Nomura & K Miyata

  2. Kagoshima City Medical Association, Kagoshima, Japan

    J Hashiguchi & K Arima

Authors
  1. M Yoshinaga
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. A Shimago
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. C Koriyama
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Y Nomura
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. K Miyata
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. J Hashiguchi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. K Arima
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M Yoshinaga.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Yoshinaga, M., Shimago, A., Koriyama, C. et al. Rapid increase in the prevalence of obesity in elementary school children. Int J Obes 28, 494–499 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0802608

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0802608

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links