The proportion of primary school children and adolescents between the ages of 6 and 15 whose body mass index (BMI) exceeds the threshold value for excessive nutrition
The prevalence of overnutrition in children is increasing rapidly worldwide. It is associated with many risk factors for heart and other chronic diseases later in life. Here we are mainly referring to elevated blood fats, insulin resistance and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and early atherosclerosis. A child's overnutrition also has a significant impact on the quality of his life. Due to the large impact on public health, it is therefore necessary to closely monitor the trends of excessive nutrition in children. The local community plays an important role in enabling leisure recreational activities for children and reducing unequal opportunities for participation in sports activities that reduce the risk of obesity.
The Child and Adolescent Overnutrition indicator describes the proportion of children and adolescents whose body mass index is above the threshold value of overnutrition for the appropriate age, and therefore includes all pre-obese and obese people.
The body mass index is a rough measure that is used for classification into nutrition classes and is calculated by dividing an individual's body weight in kilograms by the square of body height in meters. The body mass index gives us only an approximate estimate of nutrition, and classification into nutrition classes based on this indicator is not reliable, as it depends on the level of biological maturity of the child or adolescent and body composition. In adults, we speak of obesity when the body mass index exceeds 25 kg/m2 and obesity when the body mass index exceeds 30 kg/m2. In children, the body mass index constantly changes with growth, so it is difficult to determine a single boundary between obesity and obesity. For this purpose, the so-called IOTF (International Obesity Task Force) limit values are often used, which were determined by using a special method to connect the values of the body mass index at the age of 18 with children's centile curves on a large sample of data from six different countries. . Thus, for individual ages, body mass index values corresponding to values of 25 kg/m2 or 30 kg/m2 at the age of 18.
The data on body height and body weight, which are necessary for calculating the body mass index, are obtained from the SLOfit program (Sports and Education Card), in which around 96% of all elementary school children and adolescents are included every year.
The proportion of primary school children and adolescents between the ages of 6 and 15 whose body mass index exceeds the threshold value of overnutrition is the ratio between the number of children and adolescents whose body mass index is above the threshold value of overnutrition for the respective age and the number of all measured children , multiplied by 100.
Excessive nutrition in children and adolescents
The SLOfit student database (Faculty of Sports).
Data are published annually.
- Cole, TJ, Bellizzi, MC, Flegal, KM, & Dietz, WH (2000). Establishing a standard definition for child overweight and obesity worldwide: international survey. Bmj, 320(7244), 1240.
- Starc G., Strel J., Kovač M. (2010). Physical and movement development of Slovenian children and youth in numbers, School year 2007/08. University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Sports.
- Starc, G., & Strel, J. (2011). Is there a rationale for establishing Slovenian body mass index references of school-aged children and adolescents. Anthropological Notebooks, 17(3), 89-100
Measurements for the calculation of the body mass index are performed on approximately 96% of primary school children between the ages of 6 and 15. Children were measured in all municipalities that have at least one primary school in their area. Branch schools are considered in the municipality of the parent school. Municipalities that do not have a primary school are assigned the body mass index of children from the municipality in which the school is located, whose school district the area of the municipality belongs to. Due to approximately 5% daily absence of children from classes, the data is not complete.