INTRODUCTION Epidemic increases in obesity negatively affect the health of US children, individually and at the population level. Although surveillance of childhood obesity at the local level is challenging, height and weight data routinely collected by school districts are valuable and often underused public health resources. METHODS We analyzed data from the School District of Philadelphia ...

OBJECTIVES To assess how often obesity is acknowledged at pediatric gastroenterology outpatient visits. METHODS A retrospective chart review was performed to identify obese children seen at a gastroenterology subspecialty clinic over a 1-year period of time; 132 children were identified. Demographics, obesity comorbidities, reasons for referral, diagnosis of obesity, and a plan to address obe...

BACKGROUND Overweight and obesity have become a global epidemic and are increasing rapidly in both childhood and adolescence. Obesity is linked both to socioeconomic status and to ethnicity among adults. It is unclear whether similar associations exist in childhood. The aim of the present study was to assess differences in overweight and obesity in migrant and German children at school entry. ...

OBJECTIVES To determine if breastfeeding and its duration are associated with a reduced risk of obesity among Kuwaiti preschool children. SUBJECTS AND METHODS The sample consisted of 2,291 (1,092 males and 1,199 females) preschool children (3-6 years of age) and their mothers. The data were collected from September 2003 to June 2004. Height and weight measurements were used for defining weigh...

BACKGROUND Obesity and underweight are both a public health concern worldwide. Being overweight, and obesity are primary risk factors for the development of chronic conditions including hypertension. Data on obesity and the underweight as well as their association with hypertension in Thai children, specifically, are scant. This study was aimed to assess the relationship between obesity or unde...

BACKGROUND Obesity has been identified as a risk factor for higher prevalence of asthma and asthma-related symptoms in children. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the prevalence of asthma symptoms and obesity among school-age children in the city of Ahvaz, Iran. METHODS A total of 903 children, 7 to 11 years of age, were enrolled in this study through cluste...

The prevalence of obesity among Mexicans is alarming in both the child and adult populations. The objective of this study was to determine the levels of overweight, obesity and abdominal obesity in pre-school (PS), elementary (ES), and middle high (MHS) public school children from Tijuana. From February to April of 2011, a bietapic random sample was selected by cluster method of 30 PS, 30 ES, a...

BACKGROUND To date, few studies have assessed the association between the number of children and obesity in couples. We aimed to investigate this association in men and women aged 20-75 years. METHODS Data from the National Health Survey were considered in this investigation. It included 2728 women and men (1364 couples) aged 20-75 years. Height and weight were actually measured rather than s...

OBJECTIVE To examine whether the obesity prevalence is increasing, level, or decreasing among young US children (aged <6 years) in the past decade; and to compare regional data to those of 2 national databases. METHODS We analyzed data from 108 762 well-child visits (36 827 children) at a multisite pediatric practice in eastern Massachusetts during 1999-2008. By using the Centers for Disease ...

BACKGROUND Controversial messages of childhood obesity emerge: Levelling off in terms of body mass index (BMI) is foiled by increases in abdominal obesity. Waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) may be used as a screening tool for abdominal obesity in children. The aim of this study was to investigate clinical and socio-environmental correlates of abdominal obesity in primary schoolchildren. METHODS Cr...