Sex-Specific Temporal Trends in Overweight and Obese Among Schoolchildren From 2009 to 2018: An Age Period Cohort Analysis
Open Access
- 13 May 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Frontiers Media SA in Frontiers in Pediatrics
Abstract
Background: Our study examined the age, period, and cohort effects on overweight and obesity in children using a 10-year dataset collected from schoolchildren in Hualien, Taiwan. Methods: We used data from the annual health checkup of a total of 94,661 schoolchildren in primary schools and junior high schools in Hualien from 2009 to 2018. Children were defined as overweight or obese by the gender- and age-specific norm of the body mass index. We conducted the age-period-cohort (APC) analysis in boys and girls separately. Results: From 2009 to 2018, the rates of children overweight and obese were 12.78 and 14.23%, respectively. Boys had higher rates of overweight and obesity than girls (29.73 vs. 24.03%, P < 0.001). Based on APC analysis results, positive age effect existed regardless of gender. The risk of overweight or obesity of children aged 9 or 12 years was significantly higher compared to the average rate. As for period effect, a fluctuating downward trend in overweight was evident in 2016, and a similar trend in obesity was seen in 2017 across gender groups. The birth cohort of 2007 to 2009 had a significant higher proportion of overweight and obese than other birth cohorts. This indicated that the proportion of children overweight and obese in the young generation is higher than that in the old generation. Conclusion: An increased risk of children overweight or obese was associated with age and later birth cohort. For the period effect, the trend in the prevalence of overweight and obesity fluctuated downward slowly from 2016 to 2017.This publication has 31 references indexed in Scilit:
- Food habits, physical activities and sedentary lifestyles of eutrophic and obese school children: a case-control study.BMC Public Health, 2015
- Regional alcohol consumption and alcohol-related mortality in Great Britain: novel insights using retail sales dataBMC Public Health, 2015
- Trends of Underweight and Overweight/Obesity Among Japanese Schoolchildren From 2003 to 2012, Defined by Body Mass Index and Percentage Overweight CutoffsJournal of Epidemiology, 2015
- A changing epidemiology of suicide? The influence of birth cohorts on suicide rates in the United StatesSocial Science & Medicine (1982), 2014
- Prevalence of Childhood and Adult Obesity in the United States, 2011-2012JAMA, 2014
- Association between health examination items and body mass index among school children in Hualien, TaiwanBMC Public Health, 2013
- A commentary on studies presenting projections of the future prevalence of dementiaBMC Public Health, 2013
- New Growth Charts for Taiwanese Children and Adolescents Based on World Health Organization Standards and Health-related Physical FitnessPediatrics & Neonatology, 2010
- The Intrinsic Estimator for Age‐Period‐Cohort Analysis: What It Is and How to Use ItAmerican Journal of Sociology, 2008
- Obesity, fitness and health in Taiwanese children and adolescentsEuropean Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2006