PREVALENCE OF OBESITY IN CHILDREN IN NORTHEAST ITALY

This study was performed to analyse the prevalence of obesity in child ren living in six different areas of the north-east of Italy. The stud y included 1523 children (749 male, 774 female), divided into four age categories (4, 8, 10, 12 +/- 0.5 years of age, respectively). The phy sical characteristics of the children were measured by trained and sta ndardized examiners. In accordance with the guidelines on the Italian Consensus Conference on Obesity (Rome, 4-6 June 1991), a child was def ined as obese when his weight was higher than 120% of the weight predi cted for height, as calculated from the Tanner's tables. On average, t he prevalence of obesity was higher in males than in females (15.7% vs . 11%). The highest prevalence was seen in 10-year-old males (23.4%). The prevalence increased with age both in males (4 years = 3.6%, 8 yea rs = 11.2%, 10 years = 23.4%, 12 years = 17.3%) and in females (4 year s = 2%, 8 years = 13.3%, 10 years = 12.7%, 12 years = 11.9%). This ten dency was maintained when calculating the obesity prevalence by other methods, such as BMI, triceps skinfold and fat mass, although the magn itude of the prevalence was different depending on the criteria used t o define it. A consensus on more precise criteria to define obesity is needed for a better diagnosis of obesity in childhood and to allow a more reliable measurement and comparison of the prevalence of obesity among populations.