Year: 2004
Type: letter
Abstract: 30 August 2004 Dear Editor, We read with interest the Vaska and Volkmer paper on the rise in prevalence of obesity in South Australian preschoolers1. The preschool and school entry years are important developmentally as children enter the period of adiposity rebound (when they are at the nadir of their relative body weight). A rise in the prevalence of overweight and obesity at this age has important implications for later weight status and therefore prevention and intervention imperatives, for which most efforts are currently centred around school-aged children. The firmest national estimate of prevalence of combined overweight and obesity in Australian schoolchildren is 23%, and that of obesity 6%2. However, there has been no systematic monitoring of weight status on a large scale since these data were compiled in 1997; further, these data did not include preschoolers. Vaska and Volkmer's report on a large, population-based cohort of preschool children is therefore of great interest. The only comparable study is the 1995 National Nutrition Survey (NNS)3, which involved just 532 children covering a broad period of growth from 4 to 6 years of age and is now nearly a decade old. We report here the prevalence of overweight and obesity for a 4-year-old Victorian cohort currently being followed to the age of 6 years in the Parent Education and Support (PEAS) Kids Growth Study. Between 2002 and early 2004, 341 subjects were seen around the time of their 4th birthday for their first visit in a series of 6-monthly assessments of growth. The participants were recruited from birth by Maternal & Child Health nurses from three local government areas in greater Melbourne (one inner urban, one suburban and one semirural). Height and weight were measured on a single set of equipment, using digital scales and a portable stadiometer, and body mass index (BMI) calculated for each individual. Child age at first visit was calculated in months and BMI category assigned according to International Obesity Taskforce cut-offs for age and sex4, as in the South Australian study and the NNS. Mean age was 50.2 months (SD 2.4; median 49.4; range 47.2−59.7 months); there were 170 males (49.8%), three of whom refused measurement, and 171 females (50.2%). Overall, 19.8% were overweight or obese, comparable to both the 2002 SA and the 1995 NNS figures. Prevalences of each weight category by sex are shown in Table 1. Although our sample is limited in size and generalizability (children were all first-borns and were mainly from a middle-class socio-demographic group), it appears that prevalence of overweight and obesity in Victorian 4-year-olds is as alarmingly high as in their South Australian counterparts. Based on our previous evidence of uniform trends across states in school-aged children5, we would expect this to be replicable elsewhere in Australia.
Authors: M Campbell, M Wake, J Williams
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2109153205