Original scientific paper
Body Mass Index, Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity in Lithuanian Children and Adolescents, 1985–2002
Janina Tutkuviene
Abstract
The study provides the body mass index (BMI), the prevalence of overweight (OW) and obesity (OB) in Lithuanian
children and adolescents, 1985–2002. In the 2000–2002 more than 9,000 schoolchildren of 7–18 years old were investigated
in the 5 biggest towns and surrounding settlements of Lithuania. These data were compared with the 1985 data.
The prevalence of OW and OB was estimated using the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) cut-off points. The prevalence
of OW in Lithuanian children and adolescents was higher among younger schoolchildren in comparison with
older adolescents. OW was lower among the older girls in comparison with the older boys: 4.60%–11.50%/4.80%–13.62%
in the 7–13 years girls/boys, versus 1.5%–6.60%/3.90%–9.50% in the 14–18 years old girls/boys. The prevalence of OW
among younger Lithuanian adolescents did not change significantly in the last 15 years, but it slightly decreased in
older boys and demonstrably diminished in older adolescent girls. In generally, the prevalence of OW among Lithuanian
adolescents is low in comparison with the prevalence of OW in children from the other countries.
Keywords
body mass index; overweight; obesity; cut-off points; Lithuanian children
Hrčak ID:
27329
URI
Publication date:
4.1.2007.
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