Overweight and obesity among adolescents in Poland: gender and regional differences

Objective: To examine the prevalence of overweight and obesity in Polish adolescents in 2005 using both the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) cut-offs and a national reference; to compare this to data collected in 1995; and to assess whether there were differences in overweight or obesity by gender and place of residence in 1995-2005. Design: BMI was calculated from measured height and weight, collected in a cross-sectional study in five regions of Poland in 2005. Adolescents were categorised as normal, overweight or obese based on IOTF cut-off values, and by national weight for stature tables, where the 90th and 97th percentiles were used as cut-off values for overweight and obesity. Setting: Population-based study set in Poland. Subjects: A two-stage sampling method was used to recruit 8065 pupils (3980 boys and 4085 girls) aged 13-15 years. Results: The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 12.5% and 1.9%, respectively. No significant gender differences were found, either in overweight or obesity. The prevalence of overweight and obesity in 2005 had increased 2% compared to 1995. Overweight and obesity among adolescents were not related to urban-rural residence, but there were significant regional differences. Conclusions: Monitoring trends in overweight and obesity among adolescents in all regions of Poland using the same reference criteria is important. Since regional differences in overweight and obesity rates among adolescents were observed both in 1995 and 2005, future research should investigate the potential causes of these differences.