Trends in abdominal obesity among Chinese children and adolescents, 1993-2015

Objectives: The prevalence of general overweight and obesity defined by body mass index criteria has greatly increased in Chinese children and adolescents in recent decades. However, few studies have considered the trend in abdominal obesity in Chinese children and adolescents. This study aimed to examine the secular trends in waist circumference (WC), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) and the prevalence of abdominal obesity among Chinese children and adolescents aged 6-17 years from 1993 to 2015.

Methods: A total of 11,985 children and adolescents aged 6-17 years participated in the China Health and Nutrition Survey, a continuous cross-sectional survey, conducted from 1993 to 2015. Abdominal obesity was defined as WC≥age- and sex-specific 90th percentile based on the reference from Chinese children and adolescents or WHtR≥0.50.

Results: After adjustment for age, sex and region, mean WC increased from 60.27 cm in 1993 to 64.31 cm in 2015 (p for trend <0.001), and mean WHtR increased from 0.430 to 0.434 (p for trend <0.05). The prevalence of abdominal obesity defined by WC reference increased from 5.0% in 1993 to 19.3% in 2015 and defined by WHtR reference increased from 6.4% in 1993 to 14.5% in 2015 (p for trend <0.001).

Conclusions: The prevalence of abdominal obesity among Chinese children and adolescents aged 6-17 years has increased between 1993 and 2015.