Abstract
Objective:
The prevalence of overweight in children has markedly increased over the past few decades in France, as in all Western countries. We sought to describe the yearly prevalence of childhood overweight from 1996 to 2006 and to assess whether a shift in trends could be observed dating from the time the Nutrition and Health National Program (PNNS) was set up in France in 2001, in particular according to gender, age and family economic status.
Design:
We used annual overweight prevalence of standardized 6- to 15-year-old populations (total=26 600) with weight and height measured at health examination centers in the central/western part of France between 1996 and 2006. Regression slopes of overweight prevalence were evaluated between 1996 and 2006, and specifically between 1996 and 2001, and 2001 and 2006. The annual prevalence and estimated slopes were compared in subgroups, taking into account gender, age and economic status of the family.
Results:
The prevalence increased between 1996 (11.5%) and 1998 (14.8%) and was stable between 1998 and 2006 (15.2%). According to linear regression, the overall trend in prevalence of overweight children between 1996 and 2006 was stable (slope=0.19, P=0.08). Similarly, the prevalence of overweight increased between 1996 and 1998 in boys and girls, in 6–10 year olds, in 11–15 year olds and in non-disadvantaged children, and remained stable thereafter. The prevalence of overweight in the disadvantaged group increased between 1996 (12.8%) and 2001 (18.9%) (slope=1.16, P=0.004) and was stable between 2001 and 2006 (18.2%) (slope=0.09, P=0.78).
Conclusion:
The results of this study reveal a stable prevalence of overweight since 1998 in most groups studied, and since 2001 in the disadvantaged group.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
World Health Organization. Obesity: preventing and managing the global epidemic. Report of a WHO consultation. World Health Organ Tech Rep Ser 2000; 894: i-253.
Lobstein T, Frelut ML . Prevalence of overweight among children in Europe. Obes Rev 2003; 4: 195–200.
Wang Y, Lobstein T . Worldwide trends in childhood overweight and obesity. Int J Pediatr Obes 2006; 1: 11–25.
International Obesity Task Force the European Association for the Study of Obesity. Obesity in Europe: the case for action, 2002. Available at http://www.iotf.org/media/euobesity.pdf (accessed 20 January 2009).
Aeberli I, Amman RS, Knabenhans M, Zimmermann MB . The national prevalence of overweight in school-age children in Switzerland has decreased between 2002 and 2007 (abstract). Int J Obes 2008; 32: 214.
Lioret S, Touvier M, Dubuisson C, Dufour A, Calamassi-Tran G, Lafay L et al. Trends in child overweight rates and energy intake in France from 1999 to 2007: relationships with socioeconomic status. Obesity 2009 doi:10.1038/oby.2008.619.
Ogden CL, Carroll MD, Flegal KM . High body mass index for age among US children and adolescents, 2003–2006. JAMA 2008; 299: 2401–2405.
Salanave B, Péneau S, Rolland-Cachera MF, Hercberg S, Castetbon K . Stabilization of overweight prevalence in French children between 2000 and 2007. Int J Pediatr Obes (in press).
Sjoberg A, Lissner L, Albertsson-Wikland K, Marild S . Recent anthropometric trends among Swedish school children: evidence for decreasing prevalence of overweight in girls. Acta Paediatr 2008; 97: 118–123.
Sundblom E, Petzold M, Rasmussen F, Callmer E, Lissner L . Childhood overweight and obesity prevalences levelling off in Stockholm but socioeconomic differences persist. Int J Obesity 2008; 32: 1525–1530.
Ebbeling CB, Ludwig DS . Tracking pediatric obesity: an index of uncertainty? JAMA 2008; 299: 2442–2443.
Lobstein T, Baur LA . Policies to prevent childhood obesity in the European Union. Eur J Public Health 2005; 15: 576–579.
Hercberg S, Chat-Yung S, Chauliac M . The French National Nutrition and Health Program: 2001–2006–2010. Int J Public Health 2008; 53: 68–77.
Nutbeam D . Evaluating health promotion––progress, problems and solutions. Health Prom Int 1998; 13: 27–44.
Lobstein TJ, James WP, Cole TJ . Increasing levels of excess weight among children in England. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 2003; 27: 1136–1138.
Schutz Y, Woringer V . Obesity in Switzerland: a critical assessment of prevalence in children and adults. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 2002; 26 (Suppl 2): s3–s11.
Gordon CC, Chumlea WC, Roche AF . Stature, recumbent length, and weight. In: Lohman TG, Roche AF, Martorell R (eds). Anthropometric Standardization Reference Manual. Human Kinetics Books: Champaign, IL, 1988. pp 3–8.
Cole TJ, Bellizzi MC, Flegal KM, Dietz WH . Establishing a standard definition for child overweight and obesity worldwide: international survey. Br Med J 2000; 320: 1240–1243.
INSEE. Recensement général de la population française. Imprimerie Nationale Paris. Available at 1999, http://www.recensement.insee.fr/RP99/rp99/page_accueil.paccueil (accessed 20 January 2009).
Jougla E . Tests statistiques relatifs aux indicateurs de mortalité en population. Rev Epidemiol Sante Publique 1997; 45: 78–84.
Rolland-Cachera MF, Spyckerelle Y, Deschamps JP . Evolution of pediatric obesity in France. Int J Obes 1992; 16 (Suppl 1): s5.
Nutrition et activité physique. Surpoids et obésité chez l'enfant. In: Salines E, Danet S (eds). L′état de santé de la population en France, rapport 2007. Direction de la Recherche des Etudes de l'Evaluation et des Statistiques, Ministère de la Santé: Paris, 2008. pp 100–101.
Phipps SA, Burton PS, Osberg LS, Lethbridge LN . Poverty and the extent of child obesity in Canada, Norway and the United States. Obes Rev 2006; 7: 5–12.
Shrewsbury V, Wardle J . Socioeconomic status and adiposity in childhood: a systematic review of cross-sectional studies 1990–2005. Obesity 2008; 16: 275–284.
Acknowledgements
S Péneau and S Hercberg designed the study. S Péneau drafted the paper. S Péneau, B Salanave, L Maillard-Teyssier, MF Rolland-Cachera, A-C Vergnaud, C Méjean, S Czernichow, K Castetbon, S Vol, J Tichet and S Hercberg critically revised the paper for important intellectual content. S Vol and J Tichet were in charge of data collection. S Péneau, B Salanave and L Maillard-Teyssier analyzed the data. All authors have read and approved the final version.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Péneau, S., Salanave, B., Maillard-Teyssier, L. et al. Prevalence of overweight in 6- to 15-year-old children in central/western France from 1996 to 2006: trends toward stabilization. Int J Obes 33, 401–407 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2009.31
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2009.31
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
Update on the Obesity Epidemic: After the Sudden Rise, Is the Upward Trajectory Beginning to Flatten?
Current Obesity Reports (2023)
-
French youth trends in prevalence of overweight, obesity and underweight from 2008 to 2018
BMC Research Notes (2022)
-
Effects of parent and child behaviours on overweight and obesity in infants and young children from disadvantaged backgrounds: systematic review with narrative synthesis
BMC Public Health (2016)
-
Universelle Programme zur Primärprävention kindlichen Übergewichts
Bundesgesundheitsblatt - Gesundheitsforschung - Gesundheitsschutz (2016)
-
Système d’information nutritionnelle à cinq couleurs sur la face avant des emballages : application, performance et perception dans le contexte français
Obésité (2015)