Do substantial BMI reduction episodes among Swedish schoolchildren have any impact on their final height?

AIM: This study investigated whether substantial body mass index (BMI) reductions in Swedish schoolchildren aged seven years to 19 years, caused by disease, healthy or unhealthy behaviour, had any impact on their final height. METHODS: We used height and weight data on 6572 subjects from two nationally representative longitudinal samples of Swedish children born in 1973 and 1981. These provided information on their final height and any BMI reduction episodes. RESULTS: Of the 6572 subjects (50.9% boys), among individuals with information on final height, 1118 had a BMI reduction of 5% and <10%, and 346 had at least one substantial BMI reduction of 10% or more. On a group level, there was no statistically significant difference in the final height of individuals with BMI reductions of 10% or more and those without. The findings were independent of age and the subject's BMI at the start of the reduction episode. However, there were a number of cases where a substantial BMI reduction probably had an impact on the subject's final height. CONCLUSION: Our study found no evidence that a substantial BMI reduction had any impact on final height on a group level, but further analyses of specific case studies are necessary to determine whether substantial BMI reduction might have an impact on final height.

Reported habitual intake of breakfast and selected foods in relation to overweight status among seven- to nine-year-old Swedish children.

AIM: The aim of this study was to examine the reported frequency of breakfast intake and selected food and beverages in the investigated group of Swedish children in comparison with recommended intakes. Furthermore, the study analyses these food habits and some demographic and lifestyle factors in relation to overweight and obesity. METHODS: This cross-sectional study builds on data collected in 2008 and 2010. Measured anthropometric data and parent questionnaire data were collected. A total of 2620 Swedish children (52.1% boys) aged seven to nine years were included. RESULTS: The majority of parents reported that their children (95.4%) had breakfast every day. The majority of children had fresh fruit (84.7%) and vegetables (83.9%) most days a week. Only 1.6% of the children were reported to have fast food and 6.0% to have sugar containing soft drinks, four days a week or more. The prevalence of overweight including obesity (OW/OB) was 17.8% for boys, 18.6% for girls. The odds of being OW/OB was higher among those not having breakfast every day (odds ratio (OR) 1.9, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.20-2.96), drinking diet soft drink (OR 2.6, 95% CI 1.52-4.42) and skimmed/semi-skimmed milk (OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.37-2.36) four days a week or more. Parents being overweight and having low education levels were also related to a higher risk of their children being overweight. CONCLUSIONS: The parental reports of children's food habits pointed at favourable eating patterns for most investigated children. Breakfast skipping, diet soft drinks and low-fat milk consumption were more frequent among OW/OB children. Longitudinal studies are needed to determine the causal relationships.

Using different growth references to measure thinness and overweight among Swedish primary school children showed considerable variations.

AIM: The study compared how four different growth references determined the prevalence of thinness and overweight, based on height and weight measurements from a nationally representative sample of Swedish children from seven to nine years of age. METHODS: The height and weight measurements of 4518 Swedish schoolchildren aged seven to nine years were carried out in 2008 using a standardised protocol. The prevalence of different degrees of thinness and overweight was calculated using international growth references from the World Health Organization, the International Obesity Task Force and two Swedish growth references from Werner and Karlberg. RESULTS: Depending on which growth reference we used, the prevalence of different degrees of thinness varied from 7.5% to 16.9% for the boys and 6.9% to 13.7% for the girls, while the prevalence of overweight, including obesity and severe obesity, varied from 16.5% to 25.7% for the boys and 18.2 to 25.2% for the girls. There were also significant gender differences depending on the growth reference we used. CONCLUSION: Using four different growth references, two international and two Swedish, produced wide variations in the prevalence of thinness and overweight, together with significant gender differences. In the absence of a global definition, we need both national and international growth references.