Obesity Incidence among Infants in Rural Districts of Hokkaido. Longitudinal Study / 日本農村医学会雑誌

ABSTRACT

To investigate the actual situation of obese infants in rural districts and the onset of obesity, we performed a longitudinal study of obesity incidence in day nursery infants aged from 2 to 6 years. The subjects were 124 males and 96 females. The degree of obesity was determined in accordance with Murata's index. Our findings were compared with the results of a similar investigation composed of 113 male and 95 female infants in an urban district of Hokkaido.<BR>The obesity incidence was slightly higher among the rural infants than their urban counterparts, regardless of sex, but the difference was not significant (p<0.05). On this longitudinal study it was showed that the obesity incidence in males leaps at 3 and 4 years of age.<BR>Based on these findings, we should encourage parents and infants, especially in early infancy, to have proper exercise and follow good health practice.