Obesity in children. Part 1: Epidemiology, measurement, risk factors, and screening

doi:10.1136/bmj.a1824

Published 15 October 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a1824
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a1824

Clinical Review

Obesity in children. Part 1: Epidemiology, measurement, risk factors, and screening

Ruth R Kipping, research fellow¹, Russell Jago, senior lecturer², Debbie A Lawlor, professor of epidemiology¹^,3

¹ Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 2PS, ² Department of Exercise, Nutrition and Health Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TP, ³ MRC Centre for Causal Analysis in Translational Epidemiology, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 2BN

Correspondence to: R Kipping ruth.kipping@bristol.ac.uk

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Population changes in physical activity anddiet are probably the main drivers of the obesity epidemic

Acomplex interplay of genetics; epigenetics; and intrauterine,infancy, childhood, and family non-genetic factors may alsobe involved

Obesity in children and adolescents is associatedwith metabolic and cardiovascular abnormalities and other adversehealth outcomes

Modifiable risk factors for childhood obesityare maternal gestational diabetes; high levels of televisionviewing; low levels of physical activity; parents’ inactivity;and high consumption of dietary fat, carbohydrate, and sweeteneddrinks

Obesity is commonly measured in children by plottingbody mass index on a standard growth chart to adjust for sexand age using a defined cut-off point

Population screeningfor childhood obesity is not recommended

Obesity was first included in the international classificationof diseases in 1948. Since then, an epidemic has developed internationally,affecting all age groups. This article describes the prevalenceof obesity in children, . . . [Full text of this article]

Prevalence of obesity in the UK, Europe,and US

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Rapid Responses:

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Why, oh why?: Brid Hehir
bmj.com, 22 Oct 2008 [Full text]
Classifying children as overweight and obese: Adriano Cattaneo, et al.
bmj.com, 27 Nov 2008 [Full text]