Bremen Institute for Prevention Research and Social Medicine, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany.
Int J Obes (Lond). 2009 Oct;33(10):1103-10. doi: 10.1038/ijo.2009.142. Epub 2009 Jul 28.
To pool and analyse, according to standardized criteria and using harmonized variables, the existing databases of surveys on childhood overweight and obesity carried out from 1995 to 2005 in different European countries by research groups participating in the IDEFICS project.
Detailed information from seven surveys in five European countries was collected. A common database was built after harmonization of the single studies regarding sample size and age distribution. Variables were critically reviewed and harmonized according to a common protocol. On the pooled database, descriptive comparative analyses on the prevalence of overweight/obesity and association analyses of these conditions with perinatal, parental and environmental factors were performed.
Starting from total number of 74,871 children, data of 18,626 children were included in the common database (Belgium, n=1766; Cyprus, n=5540; Estonia, n=583; Italy, n=4480 and Sweden, n=6257). After the exclusion of children outside the defined age ranges (4-5 and 9-11 years), the analysis was conducted on 1738 younger and 12,923 older children. Relevant differences in the prevalence of overweight/obesity were observed between countries in both age groups, the highest values being observed in Italy. Age- and gender-related associations between the risk of obesity/overweight and perinatal, parental and environmental factors were observed. An increased risk of high blood pressure in overweight/obese children was consistently observed.
The results of this collaborative work of European research centres, although providing potentially useful findings, confirmed that the validity of comparisons between communities depends critically on the comparability of the survey methods. To monitor the current epidemic of childhood obesity and develop appropriate prevention strategies, a coordinated European approach is needed to collect homogeneous sets of epidemiological data.
根据标准化标准并使用协调变量，汇集和分析参与 IDEFICS 项目的研究小组在 1995 年至 2005 年间在不同欧洲国家进行的关于儿童超重和肥胖的调查的现有数据库。
收集了五个欧洲国家的七个调查的详细信息。在协调了单个研究的样本量和年龄分布后，建立了一个共同的数据库。根据一个共同的方案，对变量进行了严格的审查和协调。在汇总的数据库上，对超重/肥胖的流行率进行了描述性比较分析，并对这些条件与围产期、父母和环境因素的关联进行了分析。
从总共 74871 名儿童开始，共有 18626 名儿童的数据包含在共同数据库中（比利时，n=1766；塞浦路斯，n=5540；爱沙尼亚，n=583；意大利，n=4480 和瑞典，n=6257）。在排除了定义年龄范围（4-5 岁和 9-11 岁）之外的儿童后，对 1738 名年龄较小的儿童和 12923 名年龄较大的儿童进行了分析。在两个年龄组中，观察到不同国家超重/肥胖的流行率存在差异，意大利的数值最高。在超重/肥胖儿童中，年龄和性别与围产期、父母和环境因素之间存在相关性。超重/肥胖儿童高血压的风险增加。
尽管这些欧洲研究中心的合作工作提供了潜在的有用发现，但结果证实，社区之间的比较有效性取决于调查方法的可比性。为了监测儿童肥胖的当前流行情况并制定适当的预防策略，需要采取协调一致的欧洲方法来收集同质的流行病学数据。
