[A handicap for life - overweight and obesity in pre-school children in Karlsruhe].

BACKGROUND: Within the past few years the number of children and adolescents in Germany presenting with overweight and obesity has continually increased. A final review of the present situation is not possible, since the investigations in different regions of Germany vary greatly. The body weight data in different age categories of schoolchildren are mostly collected as a part of the school enrollment medical checkup. GOAL: The present situation of overweight and obesity in preschool children in Karlsruhe is reported in two prevalence studies.
METHOD: The data and facts on preschool children were collected within the enrollment medical checkup between the ages of three to seven years.
RESULTS: Every 13 th child in Karlsruhe's kindergartens is overweight. Every 8 th child with the school enrollment medical checkup is overweight, and almost half of them are obese. The number of overweight children begins at about the age of five, it increases continuously and doubles within two years from 8 to 16 %. Every 5 (th) child of families of non-German origin is overweight. DISCUSSION: The number of overweight and obese children increases continually during preschool age. In the modern way of living, children with genetic predisposition hardly have a chance to keep their overweight in control through sports and healthy eating habits. Hence children of socioeconomically underprivileged families need more support and guidance to achieve a healthy life. The consequence of these alarming results prompted Karlsruhe in 2002 to carry out a project with intervention-programmes for kindergartens within the areas of physical exercise and eating habits.