ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the occurrence of simple obesity among children under age 7 in Ningbo and to analyze the data regarding body mass index (BMI) from overweight screening under different standards. Methods Randomized cluster sampling was adopted and 64 038 children under 7 years old in Ningho were chosen and their length/height and weight were measured but pathological and secondary obesity cases were excluded. According to the Standardized Height and Weight set by WHO, more than 10% referring to overweight and more than 20% referring to obesity. Moreover, results of this study were compared with growth standards with WHO' s 2006 and IOTF standards. Results According to the Standardized Height and Weight set by WHO, the prevalence rates of overweight and obesity of children under age 7 were 4.25% and 2.88%. The ratio for boys were 4.45% and 3.01%, while for girls as 3.86% and 2.56%, with significant difference (P<0.01). Data showed that the rates for overweight and obesity increased along with age, reaching 11.84% and 9.68% for boys and 10.14% and 9.46% for girls at the age of 6. The ratios of overweight/obesity among different age groups and sex were 1.15-1.94:1. The critical value for P85, P95 were lower than the standards set by WHO and IOTE The rates for overweight and obesity for latter were 9.72%, 2.83% and 6.11%, 0.55% respectively. Conclusion Early childhood is the key period for obesity prevention, with boys in particular. Prevention and control for childhood obesity should be included in the programs for children' s health. Value of classification standards for the BMI screening of overweight and obesity for children under age 7 should be established in no time.
ABSTRACT
Objective To understand the varying features and the trend of length/height-for-age,weight-for-age and body masa index(BMI)-for-age of children under six years old in Ningbo city,Zhejiang province.Methods By random clustered sampling,64 038 healthy children under six years old in Ningbo were chosen and their length/height and weight measured.Means,standard deviation and percentiles of length/height-for-age,weight-for-age and BMI were calculated by SAS systems.Results of this study were compared with growth standards from WHO 2006 and nine urban areas of China,in 2005.Results Data from our study showed that the annual growth rates were basically the same in boys and girls.All these indicators increased along with age but the younger the age,the faster the growth rate appeared.There were notable differences seen between genders and urban-rural distribution.BMIs were also varied with age and sex.BMI reached peak between 4 to 6 months,then dropped slowly when age increased.Conclusion The means of length/height-for-age,weight-for-age in Ningbo city had exceeded the WHO standards,and the growth by year under six year-olds in Ningbo was close to the data from nine urban areas of China in 2005.