Trends and prevalence of overweight and obesity in primary school aged children in the Republic of Ireland from 2002-2012: a systematic review

BMC Public Health

Janas M Harrington¹  Cecily C Kelleher²  Ivan J Perry¹  Patricia M Kearney¹  Eimear Keane¹ 

[1] Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College Cork, Fourth Floor, Western Gateway Building, Western Road, Cork, Republic of Ireland;School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Population Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Republic of Ireland

关键词: Children;    Obesity;    Trends;    Prevalence;    Ireland;   

Others  :  1126213
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-14-974

 received in 2014-06-05, accepted in 2014-09-11,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Background

The prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity in developed countries appears to be levelling off. As trends in childhood obesity prevalence have not been examined over the past decade in the Republic of Ireland, this systematic review aims to compile and synthesise all available information on the prevalence of overweight and obesity in primary school aged children between 2002 and 2012.

Methods

Systematic review of published and grey literature containing data on objectively measured height and weight. Inclusion criteria included studies where data was collected between 2002 and 2012 from at least 200 primary school aged children in the Republic of Ireland. Database searching, Google searching, reference searching and contact with obesity experts was undertaken. Overweight, obesity and morbid obesity were defined using standard International Obesity Taskforce definitions. Study quality was assessed.

Results

Fourteen studies (16 prevalence estimates) met the inclusion criteria. The combined prevalence of overweight and obesity within the studies ranged from 20-34%. No significant trend in overweight prevalence over time was observed (p=0.6). However, there was evidence of a slight decrease in obesity prevalence over the period (p=0.01), with a similar though non-significant decline in the prevalence of morbid obesity (p=0.2).

Conclusion

The findings of this systematic review require cautious interpretation though the prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity in the Republic of Ireland has reached a plateau and may be falling. These findings provide some ground for optimism though the current plateau is at an unacceptably high level. Thus current population based preventive strategies need to be sustained and intensified.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Keane et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

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