CJO - Abstract - TO BE AN IMMIGRANT: A RISK FACTOR FOR DEVELOPING OVERWEIGHT AND OBESITY DURING CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENCE?

Journal of Biosocial Science (2006), 38: 695-705 Cambridge University Press

Copyright © 2005 Cambridge University Press

doi:10.1017/S0021932005027094

Published online by Cambridge University Press 11 Jul 2005

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TO BE AN IMMIGRANT: A RISK FACTOR FOR DEVELOPING OVERWEIGHT AND OBESITY DURING CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENCE?

SYLVIA KIRCHENGAST ^a1 and EDITH SCHOBER ^a2
^a1 Institute for Anthropology, University of Vienna, Austria
^a2 University Clinic for Paediatrics, Medical University Vienna, Austria

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kirchengast s [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

schober e [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Abstract

Childhood overweight and obesity, especially among migrant children, are current health problems in several European countries. In the present study the prevalence of overweight and obesity among migrant children from Turkey and the former Yugoslavia was documented and compared with that of Austrian children in Vienna. Anthropometric data from 1786 children were collected at the ages of 6, 10 and 15 years. Body mass was estimated by means of the body mass index and percentile curves were used to determine weight status. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was found to be significantly higher among migrant children. Children and adolescents from the former Yugoslavia and Turkish girls exhibited especially high rates of overweight and obesity. Biosocial and cultural factors are discussed as causes of these observations.

(Published Online July 11 2005)