This review of the obesity epidemic provides a comprehensive description of the current situation, time trends, and disparities across gender, age, socioeconomic status, racial/ethnic groups, and geographic regions in the United States based on national data. The authors searched studies published between 1990 and 2006. Adult overweight and obesity were defined by using body mass index (weight (kg)/height (m) ² ) cutpoints of 25 and 30, respectively; childhood “at risk for overweight” and overweight were defined as the 85th and 95th percentiles of body mass index. Average annual increase in and future projections for prevalence were estimated by using linear regression models. Among adults, obesity prevalence increased from 13% to 32% between the 1960s and 2004. Currently, 66% of adults are overweight or obese; 16% of children and adolescents are overweight and 34% are at risk of overweight. Minority and low-socioeconomic-status groups are disproportionately affected at all ages. Annual increases in prevalence ranged from 0.3 to 0.9 percentage points across groups. By 2015, 75% of adults will be overweight or obese, and 41% will be obese. In conclusion, obesity has increased at an alarming rate in the United States over the past three decades. The associations of obesity with gender, age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status are complex and dynamic. Related population-based programs and policies are needed.

Objectives. Obesity has become a global epidemic but our understanding of the problem in children is limited due to lack of comparable representative data from different countries, and varying criteria for defining obesity. This paper summarises the available information on recent trends in child overweight and obesity prevalence. Methods. PubMed was searched for data relating to trends over time, in papers published between January 1980 and October 2005. Additional studies identified by citations in retrieved papers and by consultation with experts were included. Data for trends over time were found for school-age populations in 25 countries and for pre-school populations in 42 countries. Using these reports, and data collected for the World Health Organization's Burden of Disease Program, we estimated the global prevalence of overweight and obesity among school-age children for 2006 and likely prevalence levels for 2010. Results. The prevalence of childhood overweight has increased in almost all countries for which data are available. Exceptions are found among school-age children in Russia and to some extent Poland during the 1990s. Exceptions are also found among infant and pre-school children in some lower-income countries. Obesity and overweight has increased more dramatically in economically developed countries and in urbanized populations. Conclusions. There is a growing global childhood obesity epidemic, with a large variation in secular trends across countries. Effective programs and policies are needed at global, regional and national levels to limit the problem among children.

Background— A large number of studies have examined the tracking of blood pressure (BP) from childhood to adulthood, but the reported findings are inconsistent and few systematic analyses have been conducted. Methods and Results— We conducted a systematic search of PubMed for studies that examined the tracking of BP from childhood to adulthood published between January 1970 and July 2006. From 301 retrieved papers, 50 cohort studies met our inclusion criteria and provided 617 data points (Pearson/Spearman correlation coefficients) for systolic BP (SBP) and 547 data points for diastolic BP (DBP) for our meta-analysis. Information on sample characteristics and BP measurement protocols was extracted. Fisher z transformation and random-effects meta–regression analysis were conducted. The reported BP tracking correlation coefficients varied from −0.12 to 0.80 for SBP and from −0.16 to 0.70 for DBP, with an average of 0.38 for SBP and 0.28 for DBP. BP tracking varied significantly by baseline age and length of follow-up. The strength of BP tracking increased with baseline age by 0.012 for SBP ( P <0.001) and 0.009 for DBP ( P <0.001) and decreased with follow-up length by 0.008 for SBP ( P <0.001) and 0.005 for DBP ( P <0.001). BP tracking did not vary markedly across the number of BP measurements or race/population groups. Conclusions— Data from diverse populations show that the evidence for BP tracking from childhood into adulthood is strong. Childhood BP is associated with BP in later life, and early intervention is important.

Prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases is a public health priority worldwide. However, data have shown steady increases in noncommunicable diseases, especially obesity and diabetes, in many countries.^1-4 Diabetes prevalence in China increased from less than 1% in the 1980s to almost 11% in 2013.^5-9 In 2013, China reported having the largest number of patients with diabetes and spending the second highest amount on diabetes and its complications worldwide.^8,10,11 In addition, the population of patients with prediabetes represents a large reservoir of patients at risk of diabetes. Previous research showed low rates of awareness, treatment, and control of diabetes in China,^6-8 compared with the United States.¹² Previous national surveillance data described the prevalence and treatment of diabetes in China in 2013.⁸ Another survey reported estimated diabetes prevalence of 11.2% and prediabetes prevalence of 35.2% in 2015.¹³