Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Department of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Department of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China,
Obes Facts. 2022;15(4):560-569. doi: 10.1159/000524261. Epub 2022 Mar 31.
Obesity is a public health crisis in the USA. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of obesity and severe obesity in US children and adolescents and identify novel targetable risk factors associated with childhood obesity.
From the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1999 to 2018, 35,907 children aged 2-19 with body mass index (BMI) data were included. Obesity and severe obesity were defined as BMI ≥95th percentile and ≥120% of 95th percentile of US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention growth charts, respectively. Trends in the prevalence of obesity and subgroup analyses according to socioeconomic factors and language used in the interview were analyzed.
The prevalence of obesity and severe obesity increased from 14.7 [95% confidence interval: 12.9-17.0]% to 19.2 [17.2-21.0]% and 3.9 [2.9-5.0]% to 6.1 [4.8-8.0]% in 1999-2018, respectively (p = 0.001 and p = 0.014, respectively). In 2017-2018, the prevalence of obesity among children from Spanish-speaking households was 24.4 [22.4-27.0]%, higher than children from English-speaking households (p = 0.027).
The prevalence of childhood obesity kept increasing in 1999-2018. The problem is worse in children from Spanish-speaking households. Novel and targeted public health intervention strategies are urgently warranted to effectively halt the rising epidemic of childhood obesity.
肥胖是美国的公共健康危机。本研究旨在估计美国儿童和青少年肥胖和重度肥胖的流行率，并确定与儿童肥胖相关的新的可靶向风险因素。
本研究纳入了 1999 年至 2018 年美国国家健康和营养调查（NHANES）中 35907 名有体重指数（BMI）数据的 2-19 岁儿童。肥胖和重度肥胖分别定义为 BMI≥第 95 百分位数和≥美国疾病控制与预防中心生长图表第 95 百分位数的 120%。分析肥胖和重度肥胖的流行率趋势以及根据社会经济因素和访谈中使用的语言进行的亚组分析。
1999-2018 年，肥胖和重度肥胖的流行率分别从 14.7%（95%置信区间：12.9-17.0）增加到 19.2%（17.2-21.0）和 3.9%（2.9-5.0）增加到 6.1%（4.8-8.0）（p=0.001 和 p=0.014，分别）。2017-2018 年，讲西班牙语家庭的儿童肥胖患病率为 24.4%（22.4-27.0）%，高于讲英语家庭的儿童（p=0.027）。
1999-2018 年儿童肥胖的流行率持续上升。讲西班牙语家庭的儿童问题更为严重。迫切需要新的、有针对性的公共卫生干预策略，以有效遏制儿童肥胖的上升趋势。
