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Recent trends in the prevalence of under‐ and overweight among adolescent girls in low‐ and middle‐income countries
Author(s) -
Jaacks L. M.,
Slining M. M.,
Popkin B. M.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
pediatric obesity
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.226
H-Index - 69
eISSN - 2047-6310
pISSN - 2047-6302
DOI - 10.1111/ijpo.12000
Subject(s) - overweight , medicine , underweight , obesity , body mass index , demography , environmental health , rural area , malnutrition , prevalence , socioeconomic status , population , pathology , sociology
Summary 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 D emographic and H ealth S urveys (53 countries) and national surveys conducted in I ndonesia, C hina, V ietnam, B razil and M exico. 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 S outh A sia had the highest prevalence of underweight; nearly double that of E ast A sia and the P acific and sub‐ S aharan A frica, and increasing annually by 0.66% in rural areas. L atin A merica and the C aribbean 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.