To the Editor: The recent article by Venn et al reported that childhood overweight carries through into adult overweight and obesity, but that most obese young adults in their study were “healthy” weight as children in 1985.1 As demonstrated by National Health Surveys, age is one of the strongest predictors of overweight,2 with body mass index (BMI) increasing as we grow older. However, there are two additional time-related components influencing obesity.
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- School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW.
- 1. Venn AJ, Thomson RJ, Schmidt MD, et al. Overweight and obesity from childhood to adulthood: a follow-up of participants in the 1985 Australian Schools Health and Fitness Survey. Med J Aust 2007; 186: 458-460. <MJA full text>
- 2. Bennett SA, Magnus P, Gibson D. Obesity trends in older Australians. AIHW Bulletin No. 12. Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2004. (AIHW Cat. No. AUS 42.)
- 3. Booth M, Okely AD, Denney-Wilson E, et al. NSW Schools Physical Activity and Nutrition Survey (SPANS). Full report. Sydney: NSW Department of Health, 2006. http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/pubs/2006/spans/index.html (accessed Jul 2007).
- 4. Allman-Farinelli MA, Chet T, Bauman AE, et al. Age, period and birth cohort effects on prevalence of overweight and obesity in Australian adults from 1990 to 2000. Eur J Clin Nutr 2007; Apr 18 [Epub ahead of print]. doi: 10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602769.
- 5. Australian Bureau of Statistics. National Health Survey: summary of results 2004–5. Canberra: ABS, 2006. (ABS Cat. No. 4364.0.) http://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/ausstats/subscriber.nsf/0/3B1917236618A042CA25711F00185526/$File/43640_2004-05.pdf (accessed Jul 2007).