This research was published at Am J Clin
Nutr 2002;75:971–7.
Here's the abstract of the reseach :
Few studies have used the same references across
countries to examine the trends of over- and underweight
in older
children and adolescents.
Using international references, this research
examined the trends
of overweight and underweight in young
persons aged 6–18 y
from 4 countries.
Design: Nationally representative data from Brazil (1975 and
1997), Russia (1992 and 1998), and the United
States (1971–1974
and 1988–1994) and nationwide survey data from
China (1991
and 1997) were used. To define overweight, we
used the sex- and
age-specific body mass index cutoffs
recommended by the International
Obesity Task Force. The sex- and age-specific
body mass
index fifth percentile from the first US
National Health and Nutrition
Examination Survey was used to define
underweight.
Results: The prevalence of overweight increased during the study
periods in Brazil (from 4.1 to 13.9), China
(from 6.4 to 7.7), and
the United States (from 15.4 to 25.6);
underweight decreased in
Brazil (from 14.8 to 8.6), China (from 14.5
to 13.1), and the United
States (from 5.1 to 3.3). In Russia,
overweight decreased (from
15.6 to 9.0) and underweight increased (from
6.9 to 8.1). The
annual rates of increase in the prevalence of
overweight were 0.5%
(Brazil), 0.2% (China), _1.1% (Russia), and
0.6% (United States).
Conclusions: The burden of nutritional problems is shifting
from energy imbalance deficiency to excess
among older children
and adolescents in Brazil and China. The
variations across
countries may relate to changes and
differences in key environmental
factors.