ArticleCMAJ open
Temporal trends in severe obesity prevalence in children and youth from primary care electronic medical records in Ontario: a repeated cross-sectional study.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Global Spread of Severe Obesity in Toddlers, Children, and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Obesity facts · 2022Pooled it
- Weight status of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder: A cross-sectional analysis of primary care electronic medical records and linked health administrative datasets in Ontario, Canada.Pediatric obesity · 2025Article
- Overweight and obesity in early childhood and obesity at 10 years of age: a comparison of World Health Organization definitions.European journal of pediatrics · 2025Article
- Prevalence of and Socio-Demographic Factors of Malnutrition Among Vietnamese Children and Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Early Life Determinants of Overweight and Obesity in a Sample of Mexico City Preschoolers.Nutrients · 2025Article
- Correlation between Breastfeeding, Maternal Body Mass Index, and Childhood Obesity.Epidemiologia (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Prevalence and associated factors of overweight in Chinese adolescents: A cross-sectional study.Health science reports · 2024Article
- Application of the extended parallel process model and risk perception attitude framework to obesity knowledge and obesity prevention behaviors among Korean adults.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Recent trends in adult body mass index and prevalence of excess weight: Data from the Canadian Primary Care Sentinel Surveillance Network.Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2022Article
- Cow's milk fat and child adiposity: a prospective cohort study.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2021Article
- Important Tools for Use by Pediatric Endocrinologists in the Assessment of Short StatureJournal of clinical research in pediatric endocrinology · 2021Review
- Sex and gender differences in childhood obesity: contributing to the research agenda.BMJ nutrition, prevention & health · 2020Article
- Association between Chinese or South Asian ethnicity and end-of-life care in Ontario, Canada.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2020Observational
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThere are no current estimates of severe obesity in Canadian children. The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of severe obesity in children aged 18 years or less in Ontario and to determine temporal trends from 2004 to 2015.
methodsThis was a repeated cross-sectional study using height/length and weight of children aged 18 years or less from the Electronic Medical Record Administrative data Linked Database (EMRALD), a database of primary care electronic medical records in Ontario. We calculated body mass index (for age and sex) z-scores (zBMI). Two years of data (2014 and 2015) were used to determine the period prevalence of severe obesity. We used multivariable linear regression generalized estimating equations to estimate the association of calendar year and mean zBMI.
resultsIn total, 55 233 children were included. The prevalence of severe obesity (zBMI > 3) increased with increasing age: it was 0.9% (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.7% to 1.0%) among children less than 5 years of age, 2.7% (95% CI 2.3% to 3.1%) among 5- to 9-year-olds, 2.9% (95% CI 2.4% to 3.3%) among 10- to 14-year-olds and 3.7% (95% CI 3.1% to 4.3%) among those aged 15-18. Boys aged 5-9 years had a significantly higher prevalence of severe obesity than their female counterparts (3.5% [95% CI 2.9% to 4.2%] v. 1.7% [95% CI 1.3% to 2.2%]). From 2004 to 2015, the mean zBMI decreased by 0.015 (95% CI -0.018 to -0.012) units per year, with the overall prevalence of severe obesity in all ages highest in 2005 (3%) and a decrease to 2% in 2015.
interpretationThe prevalence of severe obesity among children and adolescents in Ontario is consistent with that in other developed countries with the exception of the United States. There is evidence of plateauing of estimates and a small decrease in zBMI over time. Further understanding of the impact of prevention efforts on these estimates is an important next step.
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