Comparison of overweight and obesity prevalence in school-aged youth from 34 countries and their relationships with physical activity and dietary patterns
Abstract
The purposes of this systematic review were to present and compare recent estimates of the prevalence of overweight and obesity in school-aged youth from 34 countries and to examine associations between overweight and selected dietary and physical activity patterns. Data consisted of a cross-sectional survey of 137 593 youth (10-16 years) from the 34 (primarily European) participating countries of the 2001-2002 Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children Study. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was determined based on self-reported height and weight and the international child body mass index standards. Logistic regression was employed to examine associations between overweight status with selected dietary and physical activity patterns. The two countries with the highest prevalence of overweight (pre-obese + obese) and obese youth were Malta (25.4% and 7.9%) and the United States (25.1% and 6.8%) while the two countries with the lowest prevalence were Lithuania (5.1% and 0.4%) and Latvia (5.9% and 0.5%). Overweight and obesity prevalence was particularly high in countries located in North America, Great Britain, and south-western Europe. Within most countries physical activity levels were lower and television viewing times were higher in overweight compared to normal weight youth. In 91% of the countries examined, the frequency of sweets intake was lower in overweight than normal weight youth. Overweight status was not associated with the intake of fruits, vegetables, and soft drinks or time spent on the computer. In conclusion, the adolescent obesity epidemic is a global issue. Increasing physical activity participation and decreasing television viewing should be the focus of strategies aimed at preventing and treating overweight and obesity in youth.
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Increased physical activity level is a good indicator of risk for obesity-related diseases.
“Increased physical activity level was also included as a positive health outcome, as it has proven to be a good indicator of risk for obesity-related diseases (Janssen et al., 2005).”
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- Authors
- Janssen, I., Katzmarzyk, P. T., Boyce, W. F., Vereecken, C., Mulvihill, C., Roberts, C., Currie, C., Pickett, W., & The Health Behaviour in School‐Aged Children Obesity Working Group
- Affiliations
- Queen's University (CA)
- Ghent University (BE)
- Welsh Government (GB)
- University of Edinburgh (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Janssen, I.
- Venue
- Obesity Reviews
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2005-04-18
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 123-132
- ISSN
- 1467-7881 (ISSN-L)
- 1467-789X
- OpenAlex
- W2002369085
- Cited by
- 1,169
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 25 · 2021: 34 · 2020: 34 · 2019: 50 · 2018: 72 · 2017: 52 · 2016: 74 · 2015: 77 · 2014: 83 · 2013: 89 · 2012: 83
- FWCI
- 10.41
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Obesity Reviews (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- ResearchOnline (acceptedVersion)
- Ghent University Academic Bibliography (Ghent University) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Health Canada
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Physical Activity and Health
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
- Keywords
- childhood obesity, adolescent overweight, obesity prevalence, cross-national comparison, physical activity, dietary habits, television viewing, fruit and vegetable intake, soft drinks, computer use, Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study, obesity prevention
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Child, Cross-Sectional Studies, Cross-Cultural Comparison, Feeding Behavior, Female, Humans, Male, Nutrition Surveys, Obesity, Television, Meta-Analysis as Topic, Exercise, Prevalence
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