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Liese, A.D.* ; Döring, A. ; Hense, H.-W.* ; Keil, U.*

Five year changes in waist circumference, body mass index and obesity in Augsburg, Germany.

Eur. J. Nutr. 40, 282-288 (2001)
DOI PMC
Open Access Green as soon as Postprint is submitted to ZB.
AIMS: To assess temporal changes in body fat distribution, body mass index and obesity in Augsburg, Germany. METHODS: Waist circumference, weight and height were measured in two independent samples of 4804 and 4792, men and women, aged 25-74 years, in the MONICA Augsburg surveys 1989/90 and 1994/95. Abdominal obesity was defined as waist circumference greater than the 80th gender-specific percentile (men: 103, women: 92 cm) in the 1989/90 population. Obesity was defined as a body mass index (BMI) > or = 30 kg/m2. RESULTS: Age-standardized mean waist circumference increased by more than 1 cm (p-value < 0.00003) in both men and women while BMI increased by 0.3-0.4 kg/m2 (p-value < 0.01). We observed both a shift to higher values in the waist circumference distribution plus--particularly in women older than 45 years --a substantial right shift in the top of the distribution. Moreover, survey participants in 1994/95 who were at the higher end of the BMI distributions were disproportionately more obese than their respective peers in 1989/90. The prevalence of abdominal obesity rose by 3.3% in men and 3.6% in women, while the prevalence of obesity rose by 2% from 17% in men and by 2.5% from 19% in women. CONCLUSIONS: While changes in the Augsburg population may not be as alarming as in other countries, the secular increase in waist circumferences in both men and women occurring over a short time period indicates a need for prevention given the already high absolute weight, BMI and waist circumference levels in the population.  
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Publication type Article: Journal article
Document type Scientific Article
Corresponding Author
Keywords body fat distribution obesity secular trends
ISSN (print) / ISBN 1436-6207
e-ISSN 1436-6215
Journal European Journal of Nutrition
Quellenangaben Volume: 40, Issue: 6, Pages: 282-288 Article Number: , Supplement: ,
Publisher Springer
Publishing Place Heidelberg
Non-patent literature Publications
Reviewing status Peer reviewed
Institute(s) Institute of Epidemiology (EPI)