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.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Letter

Letter

International Journal of Obesity volume 29, pages 348–349 (2005)Cite this article

In the paper on ‘Increasing trends of obesity in Sweden between 1996/97 and 2000/01’ Sundquist et al1 examine the differences in prevalence of overweight and obesity in two randomly selected samples of the Swedish population. The study was based on self-reported data on height and weight obtained in The Swedish Annual Level of Living Survey (SALLS). The authors present prevalence rates of overweight and obesity in Sweden between 1996/97 and 2000/01. In the results section, the authors state ‘For men of all ages, the prevalence of obesity increased from 6.8% in 1996/97 to 9.6% in 2000/01’ and ‘For women of all ages, the prevalence of obesity increased from 7.1% in 1996/97 to 9.3% in 2000/01’. The prevalence of obesity in Sweden 1996/97, obtained from the same SALLS population as in the study by Sundquist et al, was published by Lissner et al2 already 3 years ago. Consequently, in their introduction part, Sundquist et al refer to the study by Lissner et al and state ‘In Sweden, the prevalence of obesity increased from 8.8 to 11.9% for women and from 6.6 to 10.0% for men between 1980/81 and 1996/97’. Thus, despite the fact that the studies by Sundquist et al and by Lissner et al used the same set of data, it seems that they reached totally different results regarding the prevalence of obesity in Sweden 1996/97. However, Sundquist et al did not comment on the fact that the quoted data from the study by Lissner et al2 were adjusted to correct for the known and well-documented3,4,5,6,7,8,9 measurement errors associated with self-reported height and weight. As Sundquist et al probably know, the adjusted prevalence rates published 3 years ago2 have been referred to both nationally and internationally as the present obesity prevalence in the Swedish adult population. Although some authors state that systematic reporting error in self-reported body measures cannot be eliminated by linear regression equations,10 the rates published by Lissner et al2 are also in agreement with those obtained from measured heights and weights in the Swedish centres from the second survey of the MONICA study.11,12 When reporting bias can be reduced by calibration so that calibrated self-reported heights and weights are comparable with measured, and when calibrated measures have high sensitivity and specificity one should be able to judge them as trustworthy. Since two of the coauthors in the article by Sundquist et al (J Qvist and S-E Johansson) were also coauthors in the article by Lissner et al,2 it would be very interesting to know why the authors chose to omit the calibrated prevalence rates in the present study when they were included along with the prevalence rates based on self-reported BMIs 3 years ago.

In the discussion part of their study, Sundquist et al admit self-reporting bias in their data set but they justify their use of self-reported data by referring to three studies where ‘these types of self-reported measures have been found to be reliable’.13,14,15 However, in the study by Salmond et al,13 which analysed changes in blood pressure patterns and body mass index after migration, only measured heights and weights were used. Further, we cannot find anything about reliability of self-reported heights and weights neither in the study by Khan et al14 nor in the article by Hazuda et al.15 Beside these awkward referrals regarding reliability of self-reported heights and weights, the article by Sundquist et al suffers from additional questionable references. When discussing increasing prevalence of obesity, the authors refer to Winkleby et al.16 We have not found anything written about obesity prevalence in that article. Furthermore, when discussing levels of physical activity in Finland, the authors refer to an American study.

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

References

  1. Sundquist K, Qvist J, Johansson SE, Sundquist J . Increasing trends of obesity in Sweden between 1996/97 and 2000/01. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 2004; 28: 254–261.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Lissner L, Johansson SE, Qvist J, Rössner S, Wolk A . Social mapping of the obesity epidemic in Sweden. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 2000; 24: 801–805.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Kuskowska-Wolk A, Karlsson P, Stolt M, Rössner S . The predictive validity of body mass index based on self-reported weight and height. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1989; 13: 441–453.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Kuskowska-Wolk A, Rössner S . The ‘true’ prevalence of obesity. A comparison of objective weight and height measures versus self-reported and calibrated data. Scand J Prim Health Care 1989; 7: 79–82.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Rowland ML . Self-reported weight and height. Am J Clin Nutr 1990; 52: 1125–1133.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. DelPrete LR, Caldwell M, English C, Banspach SW, Lefebvre C . Self-reported and measured weights and heights of participants in community-based weight loss programs. J Am Diet Assoc 1992; 92: 1483–1486.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Alvarez-Torices JC, Franch-Nadal J, Alvarez-Guisasola F, Hernandez-Mejia R, Cueto-Espinar A . Self-reported height and weight and prevalence of obesity. Study in a Spanish population. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1993; 17: 663–667.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Ziebland S, Thorogood M, Fuller A, Muir J . Desire for the body normal: body image and discrepancies between self reported and measured height and weight in a British population. J Epidemiol Commun Health 1996; 50: 105–106.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Boström G, Diderichsen F . Socioeconomic differentials in misclassification of height, weight and body mass index based on questionnaire data. Int J Epidemiol 1997; 26: 860–866.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Plankey MW, Stevens J, Flegal KM, Rust PF . Prediction equations do not eliminate systematic error in self-reported body mass index. Obes Res 1997; 5: 308–314.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Molarius A, Seidell JC, Sans S, Tuomilehto J, Kuulasmaa K . Varying sensitivity of waist action levels to identify subjects with overweight or obesity in 19 populations of the WHO MONICA Project. J Clin Epidemiol 1999; 52: 1213–1224.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Eliasson M, Lindahl B, Lundberg V, Stegmayr B . Diabetes and obesity in Northern Sweden: occurrence and risk factors for stroke and myocardial infarction. Scand J Public Health 2003; 61 (Suppl): 70–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Salmond CE, Prior IA, Wessen AF . Blood pressure patterns and migration: a 14-year cohort study of adult Tokelauans. Am J Epidemiol 1989; 130: 37–52.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Khan LK, Sobal J, Martorell R . Acculturation, socioeconomic status, and obesity in Mexican Americans, Cuban Americans, and Puerto Ricans. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1997; 21: 91–96.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Hazuda HP, Haffner SM, Stern MP, Eifler CW . Effects of acculturation and socioeconomic status on obesity and diabetes in Mexican Americans. The San Antonio Heart Study. Am J Epidemiol 1988; 128: 1289–1301.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Winkleby MA, Kraemer HC, Ahn DK, Varady AN . Ethnic and socioeconomic differences in cardiovascular disease risk factors: findings for women from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988–1994. JAMA 1998; 280: 356–362.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Body Composition and Metabolism, The Sahlgrenska Academy at Göteborg University, Göteborg, Sweden

    I Larsson & K Narbro

Authors
  1. I Larsson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. K Narbro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Larsson, I., Narbro, K. Letter. Int J Obes 29, 348–349 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0802820

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0802820

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links