Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T22:34:47.343Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Assessment of obesity and fear of fatness among inner-city Dublin schoolchildren in a one-year follow-up study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2007

Anne C Griffin ,
Katherine M Younger  and
Mary AT Flynn
Anne C Griffin
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Dublin Institute of Technology, Kevin Street, Dublin 8, Republic of Ireland
Katherine M Younger
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Dublin Institute of Technology, Kevin Street, Dublin 8, Republic of Ireland
Mary AT Flynn*
Affiliation:
Nutrition and Active Living, Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Calgary Health Region, 1509 Centre Street SW, PO Box 4016, Station ‘C’, Alberta, Canada, T2T 5TI
*
*Corresponding author: Email [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.
Background:

Positive secular trends in adolescent obesity and an increased prevalence of fear of fatness, particularly among girls, have been documented world-wide. There is a lack of consensus about assessment criteria for childhood obesity and no standard exists for assessing Irish children. In 1990, the Irish National Nutrition Survey used body mass index (BMI) ≥26kgm−2 to describe the prevalence of overweight among Irish adolescents.

Objectives:

(1) To examine the range in classification of Dublin schoolchildren as overweight according to four standard assessment methods; (2) to assess changes in weight status, prevalence of fear of fatness and accompanying slimming practices in a one-year follow-up; and (3) to compare the prevalence of overweight with that documented in 1990 among adolescents of similar age.

Design:

A one-year follow-up study of 199 healthy schoolchildren (90 boys and 109 girls; mean age of 11 years at baseline) attending seven fee-paying (six single- and one mixed-sex) and eight non-fee-paying (four single- and four mixed-sex) primary schools in Dublin city centre.

Measurements:

Weight, height, waist circumference and triceps skinfold were measured and used in five definitions of overweight, including published cut-off points of BMI-for-age (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention BMI-for-age charts for boys and girls; BMI reference curves for the UK 1990; International Obesity Task Force age- and sex-specific BMI cut-offs), actual relative weight and BMI≥26kgm−2. Assessment of body image perceptions and satisfaction (using figure line drawings) was reported in a questionnaire specifically designed for this study.

Results:

The prevalence of overweight within the total group differed between the four standard definitions of weight status, by 9% at baseline and 8% at follow-up. Accordingly, increasing trends over the year ranged from zero to 3%. Using the criterion BMI≥26kgm−2, 6% of Dublin schoolchildren were overweight, compared with 1.9% of schoolchildren in 1990. Significantly more girls than boys were affected by fear of fatness and were trying to lose weight.

Conclusion:

A standard method for assessment of weight status is urgently needed for the evaluation of obesity prevention initiatives among Irish schoolchildren. Such initiatives need to be sensitive to the pervasiveness of fear of fatness among adolescent girls.

Keywords

ObesitySchoolchildrenBody mass indexFear of fatness
Type
Research Article
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Volume 7 , Issue 6 , September 2004 , pp. 729 - 735
Copyright
Copyright © CAB International 2004

References

1World Health Organization (WHO). Obesity: Preventing and Managing the Global Epidemic. Report of a WHO Consultation, Geneva, 3–5 June 1997. WHO/NUT/98.1 Geneva: WHO, 1998.Google Scholar
2Ebbeling, CB, Pawlak, DB, Ludwig, DS. Childhood obesity: public health crisis, common sense cure. Lancet 2002; 360: 473–82.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3Hurson, M, Corish, C. Evaluation of lifestyle, food consumption and nutrient intake patterns among Irish teenagers. Irish Journal of Medical Science 1997; 166(4): 225–30.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4Seidell, JC. Obesity: a growing problem. Acta Paediatrica Supplement 1999; 88: 46–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5Roche, AF, Siervogel, RM, Chumlea, WC, Webb, P. Grading adiposityness from limited anthropometric data. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1981; 34: 2831–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6Cole, TJ, Bellizzi, MC, Flegal, KM, Dietz, WH. Establishing a standard definition for child overweight and obesity worldwide: international survey. British Medical Journal 2000; 320: 1240–3.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7Dietz, WH, Bellizzi, MC. Introduction: the use of body mass index to assess obesity in children. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1999; 70(Suppl.): 123S–5S.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8Cole, TJ, Freeman, JV, Preece, MA. Body mass index reference curves for the UK, 1990. Archives of Disease in Childhood 1995; 73: 25–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9Kuczmarski, RJ, Ogden, CL, Grummer-Strawn, LM, Flegal, KM, Guo, SS, Wei, R, et al. CDC Growth Charts: United States. Advance Data from Vital and Health Statistics No. 314. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics, 2000.Google ScholarPubMed
10Hoey, HMCV, Tanner, JM, Cox, LA. Clinical growth standards for Irish children. Acta Paediatrica Scandinavia 1987; 338: 2–31.Google ScholarPubMed
11National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Height and Weight for Youths, 12–17 Years, United States. US Department of Health, Education and Welfare Series 11, No. 24. Bethesda, MD: NCHS, 1973.Google Scholar
12Roche, AF. Anthropometrical methods: new and old, what they tell us. International Journal of Obesity 1984; 8: 509–23.Google ScholarPubMed
13Wattigney, WA, Webber, LS, Srinivasan, SR, Berenson, GS. The emergence of clinically abnormal levels of cardiovascular disease risk factor variables among young adults: the Bogalusa Heart Study. Preventive Medicine 1995; 24: 617–26.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14Daniels, SR, Morrison, JA, Sprecher, DL, Khoury, P, Kimball, TR. Association of body fat distribution and cardiovascular risk factors in children and adolescents. Circulation 1999; 99: 541–5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15Taylor, RW, Jones, IE, Williams, SM, Goulding, A. Evaluation of waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio and the conicity index as screening tools for high trunk fat mass, as measured by dual x-ray absorptiometry, in children aged 3–19 years. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2000; 72: 490–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16Flynn, MAT. Fear of fatness and adolescent girls: implications for obesity prevention. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 1997; 56: 305–17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
17Neumark-Stzainer, D, Hannan, PJ. Weight-related behaviours among adolescent girls and boys: results from a national survey. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine 2000; 154: 569–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18Patton, GC, Selzer, R, Coffey, C, Carlin, JB, Wolfe, R. Onset of adolescent eating disorders: population based cohort study over three years. British Medical Journal 1999; 318: 765–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19O'Hare, . A note on a proposed census-based Irish social class scale for epidemiological health research. Economic & Social Reviews 1982; 13(3): 205.Google Scholar
20Garrow, JS. Composition of the body. In: Garrow, JS, James, WPT, eds. Human Nutrition and Dietetics, 9th ed. New York: Churchill Livingstone, 1993.Google Scholar
21Collins, ME. Body figure perceptions and preferences among preadolescent children. International Journal of Eating Disorders 1991; 10(2): 199–208.3.0.CO;2-D>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
22Ryan, YM, Gibney, MJ, Flynn, MA. The pursuit of thinness: a study of Dublin schoolgirls aged 15y. International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders 1998; 22: 485–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23Himes, JH, Dietz, WH. Guidelines for overweight in adolescence preventive services: recommendations from an expert committee. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1994; 59: 307–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
24Troiano, RP, Flegal, KM, Kuczmarski, RJ, Campbell, SM, Johnson, CL. Overweight prevalence and trends for children and adolescents. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, 1963 to 1991. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine 1995; 149: 1085–91.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
25Hughes, JM, Li, L, Chinn, S, Rona, RJ. Trends in growth in England and Scotland, 1972 to 1994. Archives of Disease in Childhood 1997; 76: 182–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
26Rocchini, AP. Childhood obesity and a diabetes epidemic. New England Journal of Medicine 2002; 346: 854–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
27Livingstone, B. Epidemiology of childhood obesity in Europe. European Journal of Pediatrics 2000; 159(Suppl. 1): S14–34.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
28Cole, TJ. The LMS method for constructing normalised growth standards. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1990; 44: 45–60.Google ScholarPubMed
29Malina, RM, Katzmarzyk, PT. Validity of the body mass index as an indicator of the risk and presence of overweight in adolescents. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1999; 70: 131–65.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
30Pi-Sunyer, FX. Health implications of obesity. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1991; 53: 1595S–603S.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
31McCarthy, HD, Ellis, SM, Cole, TJ. Central overweight and obesity in British youth aged 11–16 years: cross sectional surveys of waist circumference. British Medical Journal 2003; 326: 624–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
32Field, AE, Camargo, CA, Taylor, CB, Berkey, CS, Roberts, SB, Colditz, GA. Peer, parent, and media influences on the development of weight concerns and frequent dieting among preadolescent and adolescent girls and boys. Pediatrics 2001; 107: 54–60.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
33Shapiro, S, Newcomb, M, Loeb, TB. Fear of fat, disregulated-restrained eating, and body-esteem: prevalence and gender differences among eight- to-ten-year-old children. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology 1997; 26(4): 358–65.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed