Overweight and severe overweight in children aged 2 to 20 years

This table shows for the age group from 2 to 20 total and to gender the percentage with (serious) overweight. The data is from CBS’s annual health survey. CBS conducts this survey with the aim of making as complete as possible overview of developments in health, medical consumption, lifestyle and preventive behaviour of the Dutch population. The figures for overweight in children come from from self-reporting of height and weight. Research has shown that this in adults leads to underreporting of (serious) overweight. This has not yet been studied for children, but it is also expected this is under-reporting. For children up to 12 years old, the questions were answered by one of the caregivers of the child (usually the mother). A generally accepted measure for the determination of overweight adults 18 years of age or older are the Body Mass Index (BMI). This BMI value is obtained by body weight (in kilograms) dividing by body length (in meters) squared. Overweight occurs with an index of 25 kg/m² or higher. From an index of 30 kg/m² there is serious overweight or obesity. For the determination of overweight and serious overweight in children the criteria used by the World Health Organisation have been established. Establishing a standard definition for child overweight and obesity worldwide: international survey. Tim J Cole, Mary C Bellizzi, Katherine M Flegal, William H Dietz. BMJ 2000;320:1-6}. The criteria have been chosen in such a way that they 18-year-old corresponds to the accepted values for overweight (index => 25 kg/m²) and obesity (index => 30 kg/m²). Under 18 years, limit values are set by age and sex for the BMI above which there is overweight or obesity. Data available from: 1981 Status of the figures: Final Changes as of 4 August 2011 This table has been discontinued. When are new figures coming? Stop it.