The prevalence of overweight and obesity and its determinants in children with and without disabilities

Judith E Neter, Dieuwke F Schokker, Elske de Jong, Carry M Renders, Jacob C Seidell, Tommy L S Visscher

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To compare the prevalence of overweight and obesity and nutrition and physical activity behavior between primary school children with and without disabilities.

STUDY DESIGN: Body weight and height were measured in 4072 children from regular primary schools in the city of Zwolle, the Netherlands, and in 85 children from a school for children with disabilities. Furthermore, parents completed a questionnaire on the child's nutrition and physical activity behavior. A χ(2) analysis was used to test categorical variables between groups, and analysis of variance was used for continuous variables.

RESULTS: The prevalence of overweight and obesity among disabled children was 30.6% and 10.6%, respectively, which is three and six times higher than in nondisabled children (P < .001). Furthermore, our study shows statistically significant differences in nutrition and physical activity behavior between disabled and nondisabled children.

CONCLUSIONS: There is a need to promote a healthy lifestyle and to reduce the prevalence of overweight and obesity in disabled children.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)735-9
Number of pages5
JournalJournal of Pediatrics
Volume158
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2011

Keywords

  • Child
  • Disability Evaluation
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Life Style
  • Male
  • Motor Activity
  • Netherlands
  • Obesity
  • Overweight
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Comparative Study
  • Journal Article

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