Trends in the Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity among Chinese School-Age Children and Adolescents from 2010 to 2015

Background: In China, recent rapid economic growth has been associated with increasing prevalence of childhood obesity. This study aimed to provide the most updated prevalence and trends in overweight and obesity among school-age children and adolescents in Shanghai, China, in 2010-2015.

Methods: Annual physical examination data were collected from 66,410, 43,812, 104,887, 113,667, 119,401, and 109,068 school children and adolescents aged 6-17 in Minhang District, Shanghai, in 2010-2015. The outcome of interest was the prevalence of overweight and obesity based on the body mass index (BMI) criteria from the International Obesity Task Force.

Results: In 2010-2015, the age-adjusted prevalence of overweight and obesity among boys increased from 21.2% to 31.7% and from 10.6% to 16.9% among girls. In 2015, the prevalence of obesity among boys was 9.3% higher than among girls (3.5%). The prevalence for boys was consistently higher than that for girls at each age and across years. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was highest at 11 years: 37.3% for boys and 19.8% for girls.

Conclusions: The prevalence of overweight and obesity among Chinese urban children and adolescents is comparable to that in developed countries and was still increasing in 2010-2015. The prevalence among boys was alarmingly high. The findings highlight the need to develop public intervention strategies targeting urban children to stop the increasing trend in childhood obesity in China.