Institute of History, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Eur J Clin Nutr. 2010 Apr;64(4):335-40. doi: 10.1038/ejcn.2010.7. Epub 2010 Feb 17.
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: We aimed to extend the actual overweight discussion with new unbiased Swiss conscript data from 2005 to 2006, and to present for the first time Swiss data on body mass index (BMI) before 1950 and for the late-nineteenth century.
SUBJECTS/METHODS: For this study, 19-year-old Swiss male conscripts (draft army; Cantons Bern, Zurich, Basel-Stadt and Basel-Land) from the census of 1875-1879, 1933-1939 and 2005-2006 (N=28 033; 2005-2006 census) were included. BMI distribution (World Health Organization (WHO) classification) and social stratification (International Labour Organization classification) were main outcome measures.
Mean BMI of 19-year-old men in Switzerland increased in the 50 years between the 1870s and the 1930s by 0.80 kg/m(2) and between the 1930s and 2005 by 1.45 kg/m(2). The modern BMI sample is much more right skewed and s.d. is higher. Obesity prevalence (according to modern WHO classification) has increased by a factor of 105 from 1870s until present. Over 23% of our representative sample of Swiss men in 2005-2006 had a BMI of over 25 kg/m(2). In 2005-2006, contrary to the nineteenth century, unskilled workers had articulately higher BMI values at the 75th, 90th and 95th percentile than students; 12% of unskilled workers were obese against 2% of students.
It thus seems that BMI relations between the upper and the lower end of the socio-economic strata changed inversely from the late-nineteenth century to 2005-2006. We further propose that the phenomenon of massive right-skewing BMI distribution between the 1930s and 2005-2006 affected the lower socio-economic strata to a far greater extent than the higher socio-economic group.
背景/目的：我们旨在使用 2005 年至 2006 年的新的、无偏见的瑞士应征新兵数据对实际超重问题进行延伸讨论，并首次呈现瑞士 1950 年前和 19 世纪末的体重指数（BMI）数据。
研究对象/方法：本研究纳入了 1875-1879 年、1933-1939 年和 2005-2006 年（2005-2006 年普查）的 19 岁瑞士男性应征新兵（应征入伍；伯尔尼、苏黎世、巴塞尔城和巴塞尔乡村州），共计 28033 人。BMI 分布（世界卫生组织[WHO]分类）和社会分层（国际劳工组织分类）是主要的观察指标。
19 岁瑞士男性的平均 BMI 在 19 世纪 70 年代至 20 世纪 30 年代的 50 年间增加了 0.80kg/m2，在 20 世纪 30 年代至 2005 年期间增加了 1.45kg/m2。现代 BMI 样本的偏度更大，标准差也更高。肥胖症的患病率（根据现代 WHO 分类）自 19 世纪以来增加了 105 倍。2005-2006 年，我们的瑞士男性代表性样本中有超过 23%的人 BMI 超过 25kg/m2。与 19 世纪相反，2005-2006 年非技术工人在第 75、90 和 95 百分位的 BMI 值明显高于学生；12%的非技术工人肥胖，而学生只有 2%。
因此，似乎从 19 世纪末到 2005-2006 年，社会经济阶层上下两端的 BMI 关系发生了反转。我们进一步提出，1930 年代至 2005-2006 年之间 BMI 分布的大规模右偏现象对较低社会经济阶层的影响远远大于对较高社会经济阶层的影响。
