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The Epidemiology of Childhood Obesity in Canada, Mexico and the United States

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Epidemiology of Obesity in Children and Adolescents

Part of the book series: Springer Series on Epidemiology and Public Health ((SSEH,volume 2))

Abstract

Published reports based on different definitions indicate that in Canada, Mexico and the United States childhood overweight and obesity have increased dramatically since 1980, with the US leading the way. The prevalence of overweight, using the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) definitions (Cole et al. 2000) in 7–13 year old girls doubled in Canada between 1981 and 1996 and tripled in boys (Tremblay et al. 2002). In 2004 in Canada, 26% of children and adolescents aged 2–17 were overweight or obese and 8% were obese (Shields 2006). Among children under 5 years of age in Mexico, overweight prevalence (z-score of weight-for-height above +2 of World Health Organization/National Center for Health Statistics/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (WHO/NCHS/CDC) references (Dibley et al. 1987)) increased from 4.2 to 5.3% between 1988 and 1999 (Rivera et al. 2002). In the US, between 1980 and 2006 the prevalence of high body mass index (BMI ≥95th percentile of the sex specific 2000 CDC growth charts) increased from 6 to 16% among children and teens 2 through 19 years of age (Ogden et al. 2002, 2003, 2007, 2008).

The findings and conclusions in this chapter are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the CDC.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Claudia Ivonne Ramirez Silva and Eric Monterubio Flores for their programming assistance with the Mexican data.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys at National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Epidemiologis, CDC/NCHS, 3311 Toledo Road room 4414, Hyattsville, MD, 20782, USA

    Cynthia L. Ogden

  2. Scientific Research Manager, Public Health Agency of Canada/Agence de la santé publique du Canada, 7th Floor, Room 713B, AL 6807B 785 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0K9, Canada

    Sarah Connor Gorber

  3. Centro de Investigacion en Nutricion Y Salud, Instituto Nacional de Salud Publica, Av. Universidad 655, Col. Sta. Maria Ahuacatitlan, Cuernavaca, Morelos, C.P. 62563, Mexico

    Juan A. Rivera Dommarco

  4. National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 3311 Toledo Road, Hyattsville, MD, 20782, USA

    Margaret Carroll

  5. Senior Analyst/Analyste Principale, Health Analysis/Analyse de la santé, R.H. Coats Building Immeuble R.-H.-Coats/Floor Étage 24 C, Statistics Canada 100 Tunney’s Pasture Driveway, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0T6, Canada

    Margot Shields

  6. Senior Analyst/Analyste Principale, Health Analysis/Analyse de la santé, Statistique Canada 100, Promenade Tunney’s Pasture, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0T6, Canada

    Margot Shields

  7. Senior Research Scientist/Distinguished Consultant, National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 3311 Toledo Road, Hyattsville, MD, 20782, USA

    Katherine Flegal

Authors
  1. Cynthia L. Ogden
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  2. Sarah Connor Gorber
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  3. Juan A. Rivera Dommarco
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  4. Margaret Carroll
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  5. Margot Shields
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  6. Katherine Flegal
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Cynthia L. Ogden .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Fac. Ciencias, Inst. Ciencia de Materiales de Aragon, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, 50009, Spain

    Luis A. Moreno

  2. FB Mathematik und Informatik, Inst. Statistik, Univ. Bremen, Bibliothekstr. 1, Bremen, 28359, Germany

    Iris Pigeot

  3. und Sozialmedizin (BIPS), Bremer Institut für Präventionsforschung, Linzer Str. 8-10, Bremen, 28359, Germany

    Wolfgang Ahrens

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Ogden, C.L., Gorber, S.C., Dommarco, J.A.R., Carroll, M., Shields, M., Flegal, K. (2011). The Epidemiology of Childhood Obesity in Canada, Mexico and the United States. In: Moreno, L., Pigeot, I., Ahrens, W. (eds) Epidemiology of Obesity in Children and Adolescents. Springer Series on Epidemiology and Public Health, vol 2. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6039-9_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6039-9_5

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