PMID- 17907325
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20071011
LR  - 20191110
IS  - 1747-7166 (Print)
IS  - 1747-7166 (Linking)
VI  - 1
IP  - 2
DP  - 2006
TI  - Marked increase in the prevalence of obesity in children of the Seychelles, a 
      rapidly developing country, between 1998 and 2004.
PG  - 120-8
AB  - BACKGROUND: There are few data on overweight in children in developing countries. 
      Such data are important to guide public health policy. We assessed trends in the 
      prevalence of overweight and obesity in children from the Seychelles, a 
      middle-income island state in the Indian Ocean. METHODS: Multiple cross-sectional 
      surveys were conducted each year between 1998 and 2004 on all students of all 
      schools in four selected school grades (creche, 4th, 7th and 10th years of 
      mandatory school). Weight and height were measured and children were asked about 
      walking time and frequency of physical exercise at leisure time. Excess weight 
      categories were defined according to the criteria of the International Obesity 
      Task Force (IOTF) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 
      RESULTS: Data were available for 33 340 observations in 1998-2004, corresponding 
      to 23,459 individual children measured once or several times. Based on IOTF 
      criteria, the prevalence of 'overweight' or 'obesity' increased from 8.7% to 
      13.5% in boys, and from 11.8% to 18.6% in girls from 1998 to 2004 (P < 0.001). 
      The prevalence of 'obesity' increased from 2.1% to 5.2% in boys and from 3.1% to 
      6.2% in girls (P < 0.001). Using CDC criteria, the prevalence of 'at risk of 
      overweight' and 'overweight' increased by similar proportions. The shift towards 
      higher values over time was larger in the upper than the lower tail of the BMI 
      distribution. Physical activity decreased over calendar years and was inversely 
      associated with excess weight. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of excess weight 
      increased markedly over a seven-year period in children in the Seychelles. This 
      is likely to reflect a rapid nutrition transition with increasingly positive 
      energy balance. These findings stress the need for programs and policies aimed at 
      promoting physical activity and healthy nutrition in countries in epidemiological 
      transition.
FAU - Bovet, Pascal
AU  - Bovet P
AD  - Ministry of Health and Social Services, Non-Communicable Diseases Section, 
      Victoria, Seychelles. pbovet@seychelles.net
FAU - Chiolero, Arnaud
AU  - Chiolero A
FAU - Madeleine, George
AU  - Madeleine G
FAU - Gabriel, Anne
AU  - Gabriel A
FAU - Stettler, Nicolas
AU  - Stettler N
LA  - eng
GR  - K23 RR16073/RR/NCRR NIH HHS/United States
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
PL  - England
TA  - Int J Pediatr Obes
JT  - International journal of pediatric obesity : IJPO : an official journal of the 
      International Association for the Study of Obesity
JID - 101256330
SB  - IM
MH  - Adolescent
MH  - Body Height
MH  - Body Weight
MH  - Child
MH  - Cross-Sectional Studies
MH  - Developing Countries/*statistics & numerical data
MH  - Energy Intake
MH  - Female
MH  - Health Policy
MH  - Health Promotion
MH  - Health Surveys
MH  - Humans
MH  - Male
MH  - Motor Activity
MH  - Obesity/*epidemiology/physiopathology/prevention & control
MH  - *Overweight
MH  - Prevalence
MH  - Seychelles/epidemiology
MH  - Time Factors
EDAT- 2007/10/02 09:00
MHDA- 2007/10/12 09:00
CRDT- 2007/10/02 09:00
PHST- 2007/10/02 09:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2007/10/12 09:00 [medline]
PHST- 2007/10/02 09:00 [entrez]
AID - 10.1080/17477160600761068 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Int J Pediatr Obes. 2006;1(2):120-8. doi: 10.1080/17477160600761068.