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Why do some overweight children remain overweight, whereas others do not?†

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 August 2007

Youfa Wang ,
Keyou Ge  and
Barry M Popkin
Youfa Wang*
Affiliation:
Department of Human Nutrition and Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), 1919 W. Taylor Street, Chicago, IL 60612, USA
Keyou Ge
Affiliation:
Institute of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine, Beijing, People's Republic of China
Barry M Popkin
Affiliation:
Department of Nutrition and Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
*
*Corresponding author: Email youwang@uic.edu
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Abstract

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Objective:

To study the dynamics of childhood overweight and the influence of dietary intake on tracking of overweight.

Design and setting:

A follow-up study conducted in China.

Subjects:

Ninety-five overweight children, 6–13 years old, identified from 1455 children at baseline, were followed over a 2-year period.

Methods:

Data on anthropometry and 3-day dietary intake were collected at baseline and during follow-up. Overweight was defined using the International Obesity Task Force reference of body mass index (BMI)-for-age. Differences between groups were tested using analysis of variance and Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel tests.

Results:

Of the 95 overweight children, 36.8% remained overweight 2 years later (‘tracking group’). Urban boys were the three times more likely than rural boys to remain overweight (63.2% vs. 21.9%). At baseline, the tracking group had higher BMI, body weight and fat intake (% of energy), and lower carbohydrate intake (% of energy), than the non-tracking group (who shifted from overweight to not overweight); they were more likely to have a high-fat or high-meat diet, but less likely to have a diet high in carbohydrate or vegetables and fruit. During the follow-up, the tracking group increased fat intake and reduced carbohydrate intake while the non-tracking group did not; and they also grew slower in height but faster in weight. Tracking of overweight seemed to be related to tracking of high-meat (relative risk (RR) 2.4, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.0–5.6, P < 0.05) and high-fat (RR 1.5, 95% CI 0.9–2.5, P < 0.1) diets.

Conclusion:

Considerable changes in children's overweight status during childhood and adolescence were observed in China, a transitional society. Dietary patterns, particularly dietary composition, seemed to influence the tracking patterns of overweight.

Keywords

ChildObesityOverweightDietTracking
Type
Research Article
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Volume 6 , Issue 6 , September 2003 , pp. 549 - 558
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2003

Footnotes

†

Preliminary results were presented at the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) 2001 Conference held at Orlando, FL, USA in April 2001.

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