Recent trends in the prevalence of under- and overweight among adolescent girls in low- and middle-income countries.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Most studies of childhood malnutrition in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) focus on children <5 years, with few focusing on adolescence, a critical stage in development.

Objective

This study aimed to evaluate recent trends in the prevalence of under- and overweight among girls (15-18 years) in LMICs.

Methods

Data are from Demographic and Health Surveys (53 countries) and national surveys conducted in Indonesia, China, Vietnam, Brazil and Mexico. The most recent surveys with sample sizes ≥50 when stratified by rural-urban status were included: 46.6% of countries had a survey conducted in the past 5 years, while the most recent survey for 10.3% of countries was over 10 years old. The overall rural sample size was 94,857 and urban sample size was 81,02

SUBMITTER: Jaacks LM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4492920 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature