p1.12: overweight and obesity among migrant and german children at school entry
TRANSCRIPT
Biometrical Journal 46 (2004) Supplement 101
© 2004 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
P1.11: Misperceptions of body shape among university students from Germany and
Lithuania
Christiane Stock*, Nazan Kücük, Irena Miseviciene, Janina Petkeviciene, Alexander Krämer
* Corresponding Author: Syddansk Universitet, Dep. of Health Promotion Research, Esbjerg, Dänemark email: [email protected]
The objective of this study was to identify factors associated with misperceptions of body shape in university students from two different countries. The sample consisted of a total of 1.681 first-year students from the University of Bielefeld, Germany, (n=650), and from the Universities of Kaunas, Lithuania, (n=1.031). Using a standardised questionnaire, sociodemographic and lifestyle data, and self-reported weights and heights were collected. The perception of body shape was rated on a five-point scale from much too thin to just right and much too fat. There were discrepancies between perceived body shape and status of body-mass-index. Seventeen percent of students who had a normal (18.5-24.9) or even high (>24.9) body mass index (BMI) considered themselves as being thinner, while 27% who had a normal or even low (<18.5) BMI perveived themselves as being fatter. Multifactorial logistic regression showed that German students were more likely to perceive themselves as being fatter than their BMI suggested compared to their Lithuanian peers. Besides this country difference, such over estimation of body shape was more pronounced in women, in younger students and in students with a higher level of psychosocial stress. In contrast to this, men were more likely to perceive themselves as thinner than suggested by their BMI. The results indicated that misperception of body shape was a substantial problem in university students, especially in students from a German university. Preventive action should be taken at universities to promote realistic body weight perceptions, as well as healthy eating patterns.
P1.12: Overweight and obesity among migrant and German children at school entry
Beata Will*, Hajo Zeeb, Bernhard T. Baune
* Corresponding Author: Fakulät für Gesundheitswissenschaften, AG Epidemiologie und Med.Statistik, Universität Bielefeld email: [email protected]
Overweight and obesity have become a global epidemic and are increasing rapidly in both childhood and adolescence (James et al., 2001). The aim of the present study was to examine the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children aged 6-7 years and to assess the differences in overweight and obesity in migrant and German pre-school aged children. The body mass index (BMI) was calculated for 543 children (286 boys and 257 girls) attending the 2002 compulsory pre-school medical examinations in 12 schools in Bielefeld, Germany. We applied the international BMI cut off points for overweight and obesity by sex and age using the approach of Cole (Cole et al., 2000). Migration status of children was classified according to the birth place of parents and grand-parents. By this definition 278 children were of German descent and 265 parents of Non-German descent. We also assessed the social status of parents using information on education, current occupation and household size. The prevalence of overweight in children aged 6-7 was 10,1% (overweight incl. obesity), the obesity prevalence was 2,0%. The prevalence of overweight was higher for migrant children (13,6%) than for German children (6,8%). 2,6% of migrant children as against 1,4% of German children were classified as obese. When stratified by parental social status, the prevalence of overweight was similar for migrant and German children in the lowest social class whereas migrant children had a significant higher preva-lence of overweight than German children (24,1% vs. 7,2%, p (Chi2) = 0,014) in the highest social class. Our data indicate that childhood overweight may be more frequent among children of Non-German descent in higher social class strata. Further analyses are being conducted to differentiate between different migrant generations.
References:
James, PT, Leach, R, Kalamara, E, Shayeghi, M (2001). The worldwide obesity epidemic. Obes Res. Suppl 4, 228S-233S Cole, T, Bellizzi, MC, Flegal, KM, Dietz, WH (2000). Establishing a standard definition for child overweight and obesity world-
wide: international survey. BMJ 320, 1240-3