PREVALENCA ČEZMERNE PREHRANJENOSTI IN DEBELOSTI MED PET LET STARIMI OTROKI IN 15 OZIROMA 16 LET STARIMI MLADOSTNICAMI IN MLADOSTNIKI V SLOVENIJI OVERWEIGHT AND OBESITY PREVALENCE AMONG 5 YEAR OLD CHILDREN AND 15 TO 16 YEAR OLD ADOLESCENTS IN SLOVENIA

Background. In the last twenty years a marked rise in overweight and obesity among children and adolescents in developed countries was observed. Obesity in this age group is a significant risk factor for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases in adulthood. So far no comparative data on overweight and obesity in Slovene children and adolescents existed. In our study the data collected during pre- ventive examinations of five-year-old and adolescents was analysed and guidelines for management of children with high body mass index (BMI) were proposed. Methods. Using the methods of descriptional statistics the data on BMI of 4685 randomly collected five-year-old children and 2474 randomly collected adolescents aged 15-16 years were analysed. Data was collected in the years 2003-2005, evaluated according to the international reference values, and compared to other populations.