OBJECTIVETo analyze the trend of overweight and obesity in students in China during 1985 - 2010.

METHODSThe data were from Chinese National Survey on Students Constitution and Health in 1985, 1995, 2000, 2005 and 2010, and the sample sizes were 204 977, 216 786, 234 421, 215 319, respectively. BMI was calculated with height and weight. The prevalence of overweight and obesity as well as the rates of increase were described based on the BMI percentile criteria of Working Group on Obesity in China (WGOC).

RESULTSIn 2010, the prevalence of overweight and obesity in four groups students (urban boys, urban girls, rural boys, and rural girls aged 7 - 18 years) were 23.23% (12 503/53 830), 13.76% (7 414/53 857), 12.72% (6 839/53 744), 8.56% (4 612/53 888), respectively, which were higher in boys and urban, and reached the peak 17.14% (18 463/107 741) in students aged 7 - 12 years. The prevalences of obesity were 0.44% (8/1800) - 21.67% (390/1800) among children aged 7 - 18 years in different provinces. The prevalence of overweight and obesity during 1985 - 1995, 1995 - 2000, 2000 - 2005 and 2005 - 2010 increased 0.10%, 0.30%, 0.23%, 0.23%, respectively, and the increase rate was higher in urban than in rural during 1985 - 2005. During 1985 - 1995, the increase rate of obesity in four groups students were 0.20%, 0.13%, 0.05% and 0.03%, respectively. During 2005 - 2010, the increase rates of obesity in four groups of students were 0.30%, 0.10%, 0.34%, 0.17%, respectively, and the increase rate was higher in rural than in urban.

CONCLUSIONThe prevalence of obesity among 7 - 18 years-old children increased rapidly during the 1985-2000, and the increase rate of obesity in rural exceeded that in urban during 2005 - 2010.