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Trends in Overweight and Obesity among Children and Adolescents in China from 1981 to 2010: A Meta-Analysis

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  • Zhangbin Yu
  • Shuping Han
  • Jiahui Chu
  • Zhongya Xu
  • Chun Zhu
  • Xirong Guo

Abstract

Background: Overweight/obesity is a serious public health problem that affects a large part of the world population across all age and racial/ethnic groups. However, there has not been a meta-analysis of the prevalence of childhood and adolescent overweight/obesity in China during the past 30 years. Methods: The China National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wanfang DATA, MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature were searched for relevant studies published between January 1970 and June 2012. The prevalence of overweight/obesity over time was pooled using Stata/SE, version 9. Summary statistics (odds ratios, ORs) were used to compare sex-specific and urban-rural preponderance of overweight/obesity using Review Manager. Results: After screening 1326 papers, we included 35 papers (41 studies), most of medium quality. The prevalence of overweight/obesity increased from 1.8% (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.4%–3.1%) and 0.4% (95% CI, −0.1% to −0.8%) respectively in 1981–1985 to 13.1% (95% CI, 11.2%–15.0%) and 7.5% (95% CI, 6.6%–8.4%) respectively in 2006–2010. The average annual increase was 8.3% and 12.4% respectively. Boys were more likely to be overweight/obese than girls (OR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.24–1.49 and OR, 1.68; 95% CI, 1.52–1.86 respectively). The prevalence of overweight/obesity was higher in urban areas than in rural areas (OR, 1.66; 95% CI, 1.54–1.79 and OR, 1.97; 95% CI, 1.68–2.30 respectively). For age-specific subgroup analyses, both overweight and obesity increased more rapidly in the toddler stage than in other developmental stages. Sensitivity analyses showed that sample-size differences, study quality, overweight/obesity criteria and geographical distribution affected overweight/obesity prevalence. Conclusions: Toddlers and urban boys were at particularly high risk; the prevalence in these groups increased more rapidly than in their counterparts. Public health prevention strategies are urgently needed to modify health behaviors of children and adolescents and control overweight/obesity in China.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhangbin Yu & Shuping Han & Jiahui Chu & Zhongya Xu & Chun Zhu & Xirong Guo, 2012. "Trends in Overweight and Obesity among Children and Adolescents in China from 1981 to 2010: A Meta-Analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(12), pages 1-14, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0051949
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0051949
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    1. Hillary L. Burdette & Robert C. Whitaker, "undated". "A National Study of Neighborhood Safety, Outdoor Play, Television Viewing, and Obesity in Preschool Children," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 00f455b55fca4b50b00d94d51, Mathematica Policy Research.
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    1. Yaru Guo & Xiaojian Yin & Huipan Wu & Xiaojiang Chai & Xiaofang Yang, 2019. "Trends in Overweight and Obesity Among Children and Adolescents in China from 1991 to 2015: A Meta-Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-19, November.
    2. Simeng Wang & Qi Sun & Lingling Zhai & Yinglong Bai & Wei Wei & Lihong Jia, 2019. "The Prevalence of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms among Overweight/Obese and Non-Overweight/Non-Obese Children/Adolescents in China: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-17, January.
    3. Peng Nie & Alfonso Sousa-Poza, 2014. "Maternal employment and childhood obesity in China: evidence from the China Health and Nutrition Survey," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(20), pages 2418-2428, July.
    4. Peng Jia & Hong Xue & Ji Zhang & Youfa Wang, 2017. "Time Trend and Demographic and Geographic Disparities in Childhood Obesity Prevalence in China—Evidence from Twenty Years of Longitudinal Data," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-9, March.
    5. Nie, Peng & Ding, Lanlin & Sousa-Poza, Alfonso, 2019. "Obesity inequality and the changing shape of the bodyweight distribution in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    6. Chun Yang & Jing Chen & Zhen Liu & Chunfeng Yun & Yajie Li & Jianhua Piao & Xiaoguang Yang, 2015. "Association of Vitamin A Status with Overnutrition in Children and Adolescents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-9, December.
    7. Gomula, Aleksandra & Nowak-Szczepanska, Natalia & Danel, Dariusz P. & Koziel, Slawomir, 2015. "Overweight trends among Polish schoolchildren before and after the transition from communism to capitalism," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 246-257.
    8. Guiju Sun & Genmei Jia & Honglei Peng & Barbra Dickerman & Charlene Compher & Jianghong Liu, 2015. "Trends of Childhood Obesity in China and Associated Factors," Clinical Nursing Research, , vol. 24(2), pages 156-171, April.

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