[Prevalence and characteristics of central obesity among children and adolescents aged 7-17 years in China in 2016-2017].

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the prevalence and characteristics of central obesity in Chinese children and adolescents aged 7-17 years.

METHODS

The data were from the China Nutrition and Health Surveillance of Children and Lactating Mothers from 2016 to 2017. The research subjects were selected from 275 monitoring sites in 31 provinces(autonomous regions and municipalities) through a multi-stage stratified cluster sampling method. A total of 59 019 children and adolescents aged 7-17 years were included. Waist circumference was measured with a uniform measuring tape. Results were weighted and adjusted by the sixth national census data released by the National Bureau of Statistics in 2010. SAS 9.4 software was used to clean and analyze the data, and the prevalence and influencing factors of central obesity were described.

RESULTS

The waist circumference of Chinese children and adolescents was(63.9±0.5) cm, with boys higher than girls(65.3 cm vs.62.4 cm, F=203.41, P<0.01), urban higher than rural(66.1 cm vs.61.9 cm, F=21.87, P<0.01), and eastern higher than central and western(65.2 cm vs.63.7 cm vs.62.4 cm, F=5.57, P<0.01) during 2016-2017. The pre-central obesity rate and central obesity rate were 15.0% and 14.5%, respectively. The 13-17 year-old group was higher than the 7-12 year-old group(16.7% vs.13.8%, Rao-Scott χ2=11.93, P < 0.01;16.6% vs.12.8%, Rao-Scott χ2=20.54, P<0.01), and the urban was higher than the rural in all age groups(P<0.05). The pre-central obesity rate in the eastern region was lower than that in the central region(15.7% vs.16.6%, Rao-Scott χ2=9.38, P<0.01), while the central obesity rate in the eastern region was higher than that in the central region(16.9% vs.15.3%, Rao-Scott χ2=14.08, P<0.01).

CONCLUSION

The pre-central obesity rate and central obesity rate of children and adolescents in China are different between urban and rural areas, different ages and different regions.