[Has the obesity epidemic reached Norway?]

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of obesity has increased worldwide during the last decades. The goal of this article is to explore whether the obesity epidemic has reached Norway.

Material and methods: We have conducted a literature review where we identified and summarized recent population studies of prevalence, distribution and development trends of obesity among adults in Norway. We searched for articles from the last 5 years in PubMed, Google, Kvasir and Yahoo, with the search words "obes*", "prevalence" and "BMI". We included seven Norwegian population studies.

Results: In the studies from 2000-2003, the prevalence of obesity (BMI > or = 30) was 11-29% (median 19.5%) for men and 9-38% (median 20%) for women. The prevalence of obese men aged 40-45 years has increased steadily from 1965-69 until today. The prevalence of obese women decreased from 1965-69 to 1984 before it started to increase steadily up till 2000-2003.

Interpretation: Our review shows that the obesity epidemic has reached Norway, but the prevalence among all age groups should be established before we can determine the epidemic's extent.