Katz, F; (2005) Obesity and underweight in Camden school children - Fact or fiction? Doctoral thesis , UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

Aim To use existing height and weight data on 4-7 year old children, routinely recorded as part of the school entry medical, to determine prevalence and trends in overweight, obesity and underweight, over the last 10 years in the London Borough of Camden Method Body mass index (BMI) and percentage of children over the cut off points for overweight and obesity were determined by two methods, (the Standard Deviation Score BMI (SDSBMI) cut offs and the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) cut offs) as well as the percentage of children under the cut offs for underweight, (determined by the 15th, 5th and 2nd centile for SDSBMI) in 5225 children with a valid BMI in each school year between 1994/5 and 2003/4 from data held on the Regional Interactive Child Health Computer System, held by the Child Health Department at the Royal Free NHS Trust. Results The coverage for valid BMI ranged between 19.8% and 52%, with a mean coverage of 34.4%. 21.3% of initial data was not useable because of inadequate or implausible data, not amenable to correction. Logistic regression showed a significant trend over time in boys for underweight only, (defined as <5 centile) and a borderline trend in boys for severe underweight (defined as < 2nd centile). Although there was no significant linear trend in overweight or obesity over time, the prevalence of obesity and overweight in girls and boys, was higher than expected from the UK 1990 national dataset. Conclusion Underweight boys have increased in prevalence in this population. The prevalence of overweight and obesity is higher than expected from the UK 1990 national dataset. These findings need to be viewed cautiously as the overall coverage of data was low. Further work needs to be done to optimise the quality and completeness of routine data collected in Camden, in order to maximise the accuracy of the dataset for determining local prevalence and trends in BMI.

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