Ethnic differences in obesity and overweight among British children

1. Interrelationships Black Obesity Caribbean S. Asian ethnicity Diabetes Cardiovascular disease Ethnic differences in obesity and overweight among British children Dr Sonia Saxena*, Dr Gareth Ambler#, Professor Tim J Cole†, Professor Azeem Majeed* *Dept. of Primary Care & Social Medicine, Imperial College London, †Dept of Epidemiology and Biostatistics Institute of Child Health, #University College London Hospital NHS Trust Aims: To determine the proportion of children and young adults who are obese or overweight within different ethnic and socio-economic groups. a Design: Secondary analysis of cross-sectional survey data from the1999 Health Survey for England Results: 23% of children (n=1311) were overweight of whom 6% (n=358) were obese. More girls than boys were overweight (24% vs. 22% respectively P=0.03). Afro-Caribbean girls were more likely to be overweight(odds ratio 1.73, 95% confidence interval 1.29 to 2.33) and Afro-Caribbean and Pakistani girls were more likely to be obese than girls in the general population (ORs 2.74, 1.74 to 4.31 and 1.71, 1.06 to 2.76 respectively). c Indian and Pakistani boys were more likely to be overweight (ORs 1.55, 1.12 to 2.17 and 1.36, 1.01 to 1.83 respectively). c There were no significant differences in the prevalence of obese and overweight children from different social classes. Subjects: 5689 children and young adults aged 2 to 20 years living in private households in England b Main outcome measures: Prevalence of overweight and obese girls and boys based on age and sex specific BMI cut off points, as defined by the International Obesity Task Force b • Key messages and further work: • Ethnicity is a strong determinant of obesity in children • British Afro-Caribbean & Pakistani girls are more likely to be obese and Indian & Pakistani boys more likely to be overweight than the general population • Social class differences are not directly associated with obesity in British children • Future studies should address the possible mechanisms for the association between ethnicity and obesity, for example differences in dietary and exercise patterns a Social class of head of household : I&II, IIIn, IIIm, IV&V. Ethnicity assigned by head of household using Census ’91 categories. See www.doh.gov.uk/HSE_99 bEstablishing a standard definition for child overweight and obesity world-wide: international survey. Cole TJ, Bellizzi MC, Flegal KM, Dietz WH. BMJ 2000; 320(7244):1240. c adjusted for age and social class