- CHICAGO (Reuters) - The United
States had the highest proportion of overweight teen-agers in a study comparing
adolescents in 15 countries, Danish researchers said on Monday.
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- But some children in Greece, Ireland and Portugal are
gaining on their American counterparts, said the study of nearly 30,000
youths aged 13 and 15 surveyed between 1997 and 1998.
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- Teen-agers were relatively svelte in Belgium, the Czech
Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Lithuania and Sweden. Lithuania had
the lowest proportion of overweight teens, the study said.
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- Other countries in the study were Austria, Finland, Israel
and Slovakia.
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- Among 15-year-old Americans, 15 percent of girls and
14 percent of boys were overweight. In Lithuania, only 2 percent of girls
and less than 1 percent of boys that age were overweight.
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- Among those age 13 in the United States, the overweight
figures were 12 percent for boys and 10 percent for girls.
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- Greece had the next highest proportion of overweight
13-year-old boys, at 8 percent, followed by Ireland at 7 percent. Portugal
had the next highest proportion of overweight 13-year-old girls at 8 percent,
followed by Ireland at 6 percent.
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- Among boys age 15, Greece came in second to the United
States at 10 percent followed by Israel at 6 percent. For non-U.S. 15-year-old
girls, Portugal had the next highest proportion at 6 percent followed by
Denmark.
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- "U.S. adolescents report(ed) a higher prevalence
of overweight than any of the European countries or regions or Israel,"
said study author Inge Lissau of Denmark's National Institute of Public
Health in Copenhagen.
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- The report was published the Archives of Pediatrics &
Adolescent Medicine.
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- Obesity has been declared a global health threat by the
World Health Organization, as it can lead to cardiovascular disease, diabetes
and other ailments. Between half and 80 percent of obese teen-agers become
obese adults, the study said.
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- The measurements in the study were based on body mass
index -- a figure calculated on weight and height.
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- The study did not explore the reason for the differences
by country but said the findings generally agree with previous research
linking diet and sedentary lifestyles to obesity.
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