Clinical trial NCT01572935: Body Weight Assessment in Swiss Primary School Children: Trend Analysis Over 10 Years
Official title: Body Weight Assessment in Swiss Primary School Children: Trend Analysis Over 10 Years
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Conditions: Overweight
Obesity
Keywords: childhood obesity prevalence
Lead sponsor: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2012-04-06
Enrollment: 2979
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 6
Maximum age (years): 12
Standard ages: CHILD
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Time perspective: CROSS_SECTIONAL
Sampling method: PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: 3 classrooms each from 60 randomly selected schools

Brief summary: Background: Recent evidence from several countries has emerged suggesting that the increase in the prevalence of childhood obesity has slowed down substantially, or even leveled off. Also in Switzerland this trend has been observed. In 2002, 20.3% and 19.1% of boys and girls, respectively, were overweight or obese in Switzerland. In 2007, the prevalence of overweight was significantly lower, with 11.3% and 9.9% of school-aged boys and girls, respectively, being overweight or obese. Further trend analyses are necessary to confirm that the stabilizing trend observed reflects a long-term change in the rates of childhood overweight and obesity.

Objective and Methods: The aim of the present study is to repeat the 2002 and 2007 national studies, in order to monitor the trend in the prevalence of overweight and obesity in 6-12 year old children in Switzerland during this 5 respectively 10 year time period. Height and weight will be measured and used to calculate body mass index (BMI). BMI references form the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be used to determine the prevalence of underweight (\< 5th percentile), overweight (≥ 85th and \< 95th percentile) and obesity (≥ 95th percentile). Waist and hip circumference will be measured. Moreover, skinfold thicknesses and bioelectrical impedance analysis will be performed to calculate body fat percentage.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* age 6-12 years
* child is attending one of the selected classrooms

Exclusion Criteria:

* age below 6 or above 12 years

Primary outcomes:
measure: Prevalence of overweight and obesity
timeFrame: up to 7 months
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Waist circumference
timeFrame: up to 7 months
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Zurich
country: Switzerland
facility: ETH Zurich
Study officials:
affiliation: ETH Zurich
name: Michael B Zimmermann, Prof
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Aeberli I, Henschen I, Molinari L, Zimmermann MB. Stabilization of the prevalence of childhood obesity in Switzerland. Swiss Med Wkly. 2010 Jul 15;140:w13046. doi: 10.4414/smw.2010.13046. eCollection 2010.
citation: Zimmermann MB, Gubeli C, Puntener C, Molinari L. Overweight and obesity in 6-12 year old children in Switzerland. Swiss Med Wkly. 2004 Sep 4;134(35-36):523-8. doi: 10.4414/smw.2004.10640.
citation: Aeberli I, Ammann RS, Knabenhans M, Molinari L, Zimmermann MB. Decrease in the prevalence of paediatric adiposity in Switzerland from 2002 to 2007. Public Health Nutr. 2010 Jun;13(6):806-11. doi: 10.1017/S1368980009991558. Epub 2009 Sep 22.