Sociodemographic factors and trends on overweight prevalence in children and adolescents in Aragon (Spain) from 1985 to 1995

From 1985 to 1995, the Aragon School Health Examination Surveys staff has s urveyed the whole population of children (age 6-7 years) and adolescents (a ge 13-14 years). A total of 90,997 children (age 6-7 years) were examined i n the nine cross-sectional surveys conducted between 1985 and 1995. A total of 106,284 adolescents (age 13-14 years) were also examined. We defined ov erweight when the body mass index was greater than or equal to 95th percent ile. The measure of association between overweight and the other variables studied was the odds ratio, which was calculated by logistic regression. In the children and adolescents studied, the probability to be overweight was higher in the rural than in the urban areas. In the adolescents, the proba bility to be overweight was higher in the public than in the private school s. Our results also show a significant increase in the prevalence of overwe ight children in the region of Aragon (Spain) during the 1985-1995 decade, especially in males. Prevention of overweight in the populations at risk wo uld help reduce social inequality in health, a major challenge for public h ealth policy. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.