Secular trend of childhood nutritional status in Calabria (Italy) and the United States: the spread of obesity.

The number of children who are overweight has been increasing worldwide, including in Mediterranean countries. Based on this, we hypothesized that the weights of Italian children from Calabria have also increased across the years, approaching even the levels of their North American counterparts. This cross-sectional study, which was conducted at 3 time points (1992, 2004, and 2013/2014) with Calabrian children between the ages of 9 and 10 years, aimed to (1) examine a 20-year trend of growth and weight in Calabrian children and (2) compare these trends to those of children from the United States within a similar period. Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were used for comparing Calabrian and American children at similar time points. Height and weight were measured, and body mass index was calculated. Nutritional status was defined by International Obesity Task Force cutoffs. Across 20 years, a positive trend was observed in the height and weight of Calabrian children. Trends of preobesity and obesity increased significantly in Calabria from 10.7% (95% confidence interval [CI] 7.1-15.3) to 30.5% (95% CI 26.4-34.8) and from 2.1% (95% CI 0.7-4.8) to 13.8% (95% CI 10.9-17.2), respectively. Although a cessation was observed between 2004 and 2013/2014, from 2003 to 2004, childhood overweight rates in Calabria were as high as those seen in the United States. There was no significant difference between boys from Calabria and the United States in 2013/2014. Over time, odds to become overweight were significant for most of the children from both populations but higher for those from Calabria. Therefore, inducting a reform in the political, environmental, and societal systems may protect children from becoming overweight by increasing quality of diet and physical activity.