Prevalence and factors associated with overweight or obesity among 2- to 6-year-old children in Hunan, China: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE: To compare the prevalence of overweight or obesity (ow/ob) with WHO BMI cut-off points, International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) cut-off points and Chinese BMI criteria and examine its potential factors among preschool children in Hunan Province. DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey including anthropometric measurements and questionnaires about children’s information, caregivers’ socio-demographic characteristics and maternal characteristics. χ (2) tests and univariate and multivariate binary logistic regression were performed to evaluate the possible factors of ow/ob. SETTING: Hunan, China, from September to October 2019. PARTICIPANTS: In total, 7664 children 2 to 6 years of age. RESULTS: According to Chinese BMI criteria, about 1 in 7–8 children aged 2–6 years had ow/ob in Hunan, China. The overall estimated prevalence of ow/ob among 2- to 6-year-old children was significantly higher when based on the Chinese BMI criteria compared with the WHO BMI cut-off points and IOTF cut-off points. According to Chinese BMI criteria, ow/ob was associated with residing in urban areas, older age, male sex, eating snacking food more frequently, macrosomia delivery, caesarean birth, heavier maternal prepregnancy weight and pre-delivery weight. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of ow/ob in preschool children in Hunan Province remains high. More ow/ob children could be screened out according to Chinese BMI cut-offs compared with WHO and IOTF BMI criteria. In the future, targeted intervention studies with matched controls will be needed to assess the long-term effects of intervention measures to provide more information for childhood obesity prevention and treatment.