Two recent papers on childhood overweight

Recently, two papers on overweight and obesity prevalence in European children have been published, involving at least 10 countries (Lobstein & Frelut, 2003; Lissau et al., 2004).

Lobstein & Frelut: highest levels of childhood overweight in southern countries

Lissau et al.: no clear pattern of childhood overweight in European countries

Lissau et al. found a more equal distribution of overweight in European children aged 13 and 15 years. They conclude that overweight was significantly higher among 13 year olds of both sexes in Finland, Ireland, and Greece, and in Portuguese girls. Among 15 year olds, the prevalence of overweight was higher in Greek boys and in Danish and Portuguese girls. On the contrary, in Lithuania, there was a relatively low prevalence of overweight in both 13 and 15 year olds in both sexes.

Differences in data collection methods

It must be noted that the two papers used different data collection methods. The one by Lobstein & Frelut is based on a country by country collection of measured data, whereas the Lissau paper is based on The Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study (HBSC) which uses self-reported data. In general, measured data is preferred over self reported data, but the HBSC survey data have the advantage that all data are obtained in the same way and country trends can be compared. Representativeness of samples and periods of data collection also differ (Lissau, 2004).