Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity in Chinese Students and Its Socioeconomic Differences

Objective To analyze the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the primary and secondary school students in different socioeconomic populations in China in 2005,and to provide scientific evidence for the prevention and intervention measures.Methods Subjects aged 7 to 18 years came from 30 provinces,and were divided into urban and rural areas composed of high,moderate and low SES subgroups.WGOC-BMI criterion was used to screen obesity and overweight.Results In 2005,the prevalence of obesity was 7.1%,3.6%,2.8% and 1.9%,and that of overweight was 13.1%,7.4%,6.2% and 4.7%,for the urban boys,urban girls,rural boys and rural girls,respectively.The prevalence of obesity/overweight was the highest in the urban primary school boys,and the prevalence of the provincial-capital city subgroup had reached the average level of the developed countries.The prevalence of overweight/obesity for the rural ones also rose swiftly,suggesting that China has entered an overall epidemic stage of childhood obesity.Conclusion The prevalence of childhood obesity in China is strongly influenced by the socioeconomic status in their residual areas.It's very useful to establish a surveillance system for effectively intervening childhood obesity.