Recent Trends in the Prevalence of under- and Overweight among Adolescent Girls in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Download as .RIS

Citation

Jaacks, Lindsay M.; Slining, Meghan M.; & Popkin, Barry M. (2015). Recent Trends in the Prevalence of under- and Overweight among Adolescent Girls in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. Pediatric Obesity, 10(6), 428-435. PMCID: PMC4492920

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Most studies of childhood malnutrition in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) focus on children <5 years, with few focusing on adolescence, a critical stage in development.
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate recent trends in the prevalence of under- and overweight among girls (15-18 years) in LMICs.
METHODS: Data are from Demographic and Health Surveys (53 countries) and national surveys conducted in Indonesia, China, Vietnam, Brazil and Mexico. The most recent surveys with sample sizes ≥50 when stratified by rural-urban status were included: 46.6% of countries had a survey conducted in the past 5 years, while the most recent survey for 10.3% of countries was over 10 years old. The overall rural sample size was 94 857 and urban sample size was 81 025. Under- and overweight were defined using the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) sex- and age-specific body mass index cut points.
RESULTS: South Asia had the highest prevalence of underweight; nearly double that of East Asia and the Pacific and sub-Saharan Africa, and increasing annually by 0.66% in rural areas. Latin America and the Caribbean had the highest regional prevalence of overweight in both rural and urban settings, and this prevalence is increasing annually by about 0.50%. In urban areas, 38% of countries had both an under- and overweight prevalence ≥10%.
CONCLUSIONS: There is substantial variation across and within regions in the burden of under- and overweight, with increasing dual burdens in urban areas. Innovative public health interventions capable of addressing both ends of the malnutrition spectrum are urgently needed.

URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ijpo.12000

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year Published

2015

Journal Title

Pediatric Obesity

Author(s)

Jaacks, Lindsay M.
Slining, Meghan M.
Popkin, Barry M.

PMCID

PMC4492920

ORCiD

Popkin - 0000-0001-9495-9324