Liese Angela D, Hirsch Thomas, von Mutius Erika, Weiland Stephan K
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA.
Eur J Public Health. 2006 Oct;16(5):526-31. doi: 10.1093/eurpub/ckl052. Epub 2006 May 3.
Given the increasing prevalence of childhood overweight, we aimed to quantify the population burden and evaluate potential regional differences in anthropometric characteristics and prevalence of overweight in fourth graders in two German cities.
Data were analysed from a cross-sectional school-based study conducted in 1995-96 in Dresden (former East Germany) and Munich (former West Germany) as part of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood. Height and weight of the children were measured, and the parents completed a questionnaire. 2474 children age 9-10 years provided anthropometric data. Overweight was defined based on the age-specific and gender-specific international cut-off values for body mass index.
Dresden children were on average 1.2 kg lighter and >1 cm taller than their Munich peers. The prevalence of overweight in Dresden was 15.2% in girls and 14.2% in boys compared with 24 and 22.2%, respectively, in Munich. Differences were observed between Dresden and Munich with respect to the proportion of children of non-German nationality, household smoking, breastfeeding practices, and individual dietary behaviours. Even in combination these factors were not able to explain entirely the between-city overweight differences.
A substantial proportion of pre-adolescent children in Germany is now considered overweight with marked regional differences in prevalence. Comparison of population-level factors indicate that other unmeasured determinants of overweight may be responsible for the marked differences in the prevalence of overweight.
鉴于儿童超重现象日益普遍，我们旨在量化人群负担，并评估德国两个城市四年级学生人体测量特征及超重患病率的潜在地区差异。
对1995 - 1996年在德累斯顿（原东德）和慕尼黑（原西德）开展的一项基于学校的横断面研究数据进行分析，该研究是儿童哮喘和过敏国际研究的一部分。测量了儿童的身高和体重，家长完成了一份问卷。2474名9 - 10岁儿童提供了人体测量数据。超重是根据特定年龄和性别的国际体重指数临界值来定义的。
德累斯顿的儿童平均比慕尼黑的同龄人轻1.2千克，高1厘米多。德累斯顿女孩超重患病率为15.2%，男孩为14.2%，而慕尼黑女孩和男孩的超重患病率分别为24%和22.2%。在非德国国籍儿童比例、家庭吸烟情况、母乳喂养习惯和个人饮食行为方面，德累斯顿和慕尼黑存在差异。即使综合考虑这些因素，也无法完全解释城市间超重差异。
德国相当大比例的青春期前儿童现在被认为超重，患病率存在显著地区差异。对人群层面因素的比较表明，其他未测量的超重决定因素可能是超重患病率显著差异的原因。
