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Increase in the Prevalence of Obesity in Switzerland 1982–2007: Birth Cohort Analysis Puts Recent Slowdown into Perspective
Author(s) -
Faeh David,
Bopp Matthias
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
obesity
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.438
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1930-739X
pISSN - 1930-7381
DOI - 10.1038/oby.2009.310
Subject(s) - overweight , cohort , medicine , obesity , demography , cohort effect , slowdown , cohort study , population , birth weight , pediatrics , pregnancy , environmental health , sociology , biology , political science , law , genetics
Although the prevalence of obesity continues to increase in Switzerland, the latest figures suggest a slowdown in the rate of increase. In order to elucidate whether this could be the onset of a trend reversal, we analyzed cross‐sectional data by birth cohort. We assessed the prevalence of overweight+ (BMI ≥25 kg/m 2 ) and obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m 2 ) in six population surveys with self‐reported height and weight values (Switzerland, N = 68,829, 1982–2007, men (45%) and women (55%), aged 20–84 years) by 10‐year birth cohorts (from the decade 1910–1919 through to 1970–1979). We found that increases in the prevalence of overweight+ and obesity occurred mainly in the cohort born 1930 to 1939, and again in the cohorts born 1960 to 1979. The accelerated increase in the prevalence of overweight+ in the youngest birth cohort and the lower prevalence in the oldest birth cohorts suggest that the current slowdown seen in Switzerland may not herald the onset of a trend reversal. As this example shows, simple comparisons of prevalence rates over time could provide a misleading picture of actual trends. Birth cohort analysis may offer a valuable alternative.