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      Obesity prevalence from a European perspective: a systematic review

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          Abstract

          Background

          Obesity has been recognised as an important contributing factor in the development of various diseases, but comparative data on this condition are limited. We therefore aimed to identify and discuss current epidemiological data on the prevalence of obesity in European countries.

          Methods

          We identified relevant published studies by means of a MEDLINE search (1990–2008) supplemented by information obtained from regulatory agencies. We only included surveys that used direct measures of weight and height and were representative of each country's overall population.

          Results

          In Europe, the prevalence of obesity (body mass index ≥ 30 kg/m 2) in men ranged from 4.0% to 28.3% and in women from 6.2% to 36.5%. We observed considerable geographic variation, with prevalence rates in Central, Eastern, and Southern Europe being higher than those in Western and Northern Europe.

          Conclusion

          In Europe, obesity has reached epidemic proportions. The data presented in our review emphasise the need for effective therapeutic and preventive strategies.

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          Adherence to the traditional mediterranean diet is inversely associated with body mass index and obesity in a spanish population.

          Helmut Schröder, Jaume Marrugat, Maria-Isabel Covas … (2004)
          The Mediterranean diet is a healthy eating pattern with protective effects on chronic diseases. The purpose of this study was to assess the relation between BMI and obesity and the level of adherence to the traditional Mediterranean diet. The subjects were Spanish men (n = 1547) and women (n = 1615) aged 25-74 y who were examined in 1999-2000, in a population-based, cross-sectional survey in the northeast of Spain (Girona). Dietary intake was assessed using a FFQ. A Mediterranean diet score, including foods considered to be characteristic components of the traditional Mediterranean diet (vegetables, fruits, pulses, nuts, fish, meat, cereals, olive oil, and wine) was created. An increase of 5 U in the dietary score was associated with a change in the BMI of 0.43 (P = 0.030) and 0.68 (P = 0.007), after controlling for potential confounders, in men and women, respectively. The obesity risk decreased in men (P = 0.010) and women (P = 0.013) with increasing adherence to the traditional Mediterranean dietary pattern. The population in the top tertile of this score were less likely to be obese in both genders [odds ratio (OR) and (95% CI): 0.61 (0.40-0.92) in men; 0.61 (0.40-0.93) in women] after adjusting for potential confounders. These data suggest that the traditional Mediterranean dietary pattern is inversely associated with BMI and obesity. This finding may be useful in the development of dietary approaches for dietary counseling and the prevention of obesity.
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            Physical inactivity, sedentary lifestyle and obesity in the European Union

            M. A. Martínez-González, J. Alfredo Martínez, F Hu … (1999)
            Article 0 comments Cited 87 times – based on 0 reviews     Review now
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              Relationship of physical activity and body mass index to the risk of hypertension: a prospective study in Finland.

              Jaakko Tuomilehto, Pekka Jousilahti, Gang Hu … (2003)
              Prospective studies on physical activity in relation to the risk for hypertension are scant, particularly in women. This study aimed at finding out whether regular physical activity can reduce the risk of hypertension in both men and women, and in subjects with and without overweight. We prospectively followed 8302 Finnish men and 9139 women aged 25 to 64 years without a history of antihypertensive drug use, coronary heart disease, stroke, and heart failure at baseline. Both single and joint associations of physical activity and body mass index with the risk of hypertension were examined using Cox proportional hazard models. During a mean followup of 11 years, there were 1600 incident cases of drug-treated hypertension. Multivariate-adjusted hazards ratios of hypertension associated with light, moderate, and high physical activity were 1.00, 0.63, and 0.59 in men (Ptrend or =30) were 1.00, 1.18, and 1.66 for men (Ptrend<0.001), and 1.00, 1.24, and 1.32 for women (Ptrend=0.007), respectively. Further adjustment for baseline systolic blood pressure did not affect the protective effect associated with physical activity, but it weakened markedly the association between body mass index and hypertension. The present study indicates that regular physical activity and weight control can reduce the risk of hypertension. The protective effect of physical activity was observed in both sexes regardless of the level of obesity.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Journal ID (nlm-ta): BMC Public Health
                Title: BMC Public Health
                Publisher: BioMed Central
                ISSN (Electronic): 1471-2458
                Publication date Collection: 2008
                Publication date (Electronic): 5 June 2008
                Volume: 8
                Page: 200
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Institute for Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charité University Medical Center, Berlin, Germany
                [2 ]Department of Epidemiology, German Institute of Human Nutrition (DIfE) Potsdam-Rehbruecke, Germany
                [3 ]Center for Nutrition and Weight Management, Boston University School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA
                [4 ]Canada Research Chair in Cardiovascular Obesity Research and Management, McMaster University Medical Center, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
                Article
                Publisher ID: 1471-2458-8-200
                DOI: 10.1186/1471-2458-8-200
                PMC ID: 2441615
                PubMed ID: 18533989
                SO-VID: 966d96d9-3fde-465a-a242-a3d46a92f404
                Copyright © Copyright © 2008 Berghöfer et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
                License:

                This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

                History
                Date received : 8 December 2007
                Date accepted : 5 June 2008
                Categories
                Subject: Research Article

                ScienceOpen disciplines: Public health
                Data availability:
                ScienceOpen disciplines: Public health

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