. 2023 May 31;10(6):983.

doi: 10.3390/children10060983.

Differences in Anthropometric Parameters of Children in Six European Countries

Csilla Semánová^{1

2}, Gergő J Szőllősi^{2

3}, István Ilyés¹, Greet Cardon⁴, Julie Latomme⁴, Violeta Iotova^{5

6}, Yuliya Bazdarska^{5

6}, Jaana Lindström⁷, Katja Wikström⁷, Sandra Herrmann^{8

9

10}, Peter Schwarz^{8

9

10}, Eva Karaglani¹¹, Yannis Manios¹¹, Konsantinos Makrilakis¹², Luis Moreno^{13

14}, Esther M González-Gil^{13

14}, Imre Rurik^{2

15

16}, The Feel Diabetes-Study Group

Affiliations

¹ Department of Family and Occupational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary.
² Doctoral School of Health Sciences, University of Debrecen, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary.
³ Department of Health Informatics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Debrecen, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary.
⁴ Department of Movement and Sports Sciences, Ghent University, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium.
⁵ Department of Social Medicine and Health Care Organization, Medical University of Varna, 9002 Varna, Bulgaria.
⁶ Department of Paediatrics, Medical University of Varna, 9002 Varna, Bulgaria.
⁷ Department of Public Health and Welfare, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, FI-00271 Helsinki, Finland.
⁸ Department for Prevention and Care of Diabetes, Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany.
⁹ Paul Langerhans Institute, Dresden of Helmholtz Zentrum München, University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine, 01307 Dresden, Germany.
¹⁰ German Center for Diabetes Research, 40225 Neuherberg, Germany.
¹¹ Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Science and Education, Harokopio University, 17671 Athens, Greece.
¹² First Department of Propaedeutic Medicine, Athens Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University, Laiko General Hospital, 11527 Athens, Greece.
¹³ Growth, Exercise, Nutrition and Development (GENUD), Research Group, University of Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain.
¹⁴ IBER, Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28222 Madrid, Spain.
¹⁵ Hungarian Society of Nutrition, 4002 Budapest, Hungary.
¹⁶ Department of Family Medicine, Semmelweis University, 1085 Budapest, Hungary.

PMID: 37371214
PMCID: PMC10297030
DOI: 10.3390/children10060983

Differences in Anthropometric Parameters of Children in Six European Countries

Csilla Semánová et al. Children (Basel). 2023.

. 2023 May 31;10(6):983.

doi: 10.3390/children10060983.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Family and Occupational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary.
² Doctoral School of Health Sciences, University of Debrecen, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary.
³ Department of Health Informatics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Debrecen, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary.
⁴ Department of Movement and Sports Sciences, Ghent University, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium.
⁵ Department of Social Medicine and Health Care Organization, Medical University of Varna, 9002 Varna, Bulgaria.
⁶ Department of Paediatrics, Medical University of Varna, 9002 Varna, Bulgaria.
⁷ Department of Public Health and Welfare, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, FI-00271 Helsinki, Finland.
⁸ Department for Prevention and Care of Diabetes, Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany.
⁹ Paul Langerhans Institute, Dresden of Helmholtz Zentrum München, University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine, 01307 Dresden, Germany.
¹⁰ German Center for Diabetes Research, 40225 Neuherberg, Germany.
¹¹ Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Science and Education, Harokopio University, 17671 Athens, Greece.
¹² First Department of Propaedeutic Medicine, Athens Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University, Laiko General Hospital, 11527 Athens, Greece.
¹³ Growth, Exercise, Nutrition and Development (GENUD), Research Group, University of Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain.
¹⁴ IBER, Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28222 Madrid, Spain.
¹⁵ Hungarian Society of Nutrition, 4002 Budapest, Hungary.
¹⁶ Department of Family Medicine, Semmelweis University, 1085 Budapest, Hungary.

PMID: 37371214
PMCID: PMC10297030
DOI: 10.3390/children10060983

Abstract

Background: The databases of children's anthropometric parameters are often outdated, rarely representative and are not always available at an international level.

Objectives: To present children's anthropometric parameters in six European countries that contributed to the Feel4Diabetes project and find country-specific differences.

Design/setting: The Feel4Diabetes study was performed between 2016 and 2018, targeting children in Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, Greece, Hungary and Spain. The current study presents data from the baseline and the yearly follow-up anthropometric measurements.

Subjects: In total, 20,832 measurements of children (48.7% boys) between 6 and 10 years of age were conducted.

Main outcome measure: weight, height, BMI.

Results: Belgian boys had the lowest body weight and height, while Greek boys had the highest body weight, and Finnish had the highest body height. The highest proportion of overweight (percentile above 85%) and obese boys (percentile above 95%) was in Greece, followed by Hungarian, Spanish, Bulgarian and Finnish boys. In contrast, Belgian boys had the lowest ratio in both categories. Among girls, Greece had the highest; Belgium had the lowest body weight; Finland was the highest in all age categories. The ratio in the overweight range was the highest in Greece, followed by Spanish, Bulgarian and Hungarian girls, who were second in the obese category. Finnish girls had lower and Belgian girls had the lowest ratio in both BMI categories. All the detailed data are presented in tables, and the trends are figures.

Conclusions: Our study presents fresh and comparable anthropometric data of children between 6 and 10 years of age in six European countries, supporting the need for appropriate obesity prevention.

Keywords: BMI of children; Belgium; Bulgaria; Feel4Diabetes; Finland; Greece; Hungary; Spain; body height; body weight; child growth.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

**Figure 1**
The increase in the mean values of weight [kg] and boys by their age [years] in the 6 countries. (BE = Belgium; BG = Bulgaria; FI = Finland; GR = Greece; HU = Hungary; ES = Spain).

**Figure 2**
The increase in the mean values of the height [cm] of boys by their age [years] in the 6 countries. (BE = Belgium; BG = Bulgaria; FI = Finland; GR = Greece; HU = Hungary; ES = Spain).

**Figure 3**
The increase in the mean values of BMI [kg/m²] of boys by their age [years] in the 6 countries. (BE = Belgium; BG = Bulgaria; FI = Finland; GR = Greece; HU = Hungary; ES = Spain).

**Figure 4**
The increase in the mean weight [kg] of girls by their age [years] in the 6 countries. (BE = Belgium; BG = Bulgaria; FI = Finland; GR = Greece; HU = Hungary; ES = Spain).

**Figure 5**
The increase in the mean height [cm] of girls by their age [years] in the 6 countries. (BE = Belgium; BG = Bulgaria; FI = Finland; GR = Greece; HU = Hungary; ES = Spain).

**Figure 6**
The changes in the mean BMI [kg/m²] by age [years] of girls in the 6 countries. (BE = Belgium; BG = Bulgaria; FI = Finland; GR = Greece; HU = Hungary; ES= Spain).

**Figure 7**
BMI distribution of boys at the time of 3 consecutive anthropometric measurements, performed during the project. (BE = Belgium; BG = Bulgaria; FI = Finland; GR = Greece; HU = Hungary; ES = Spain).

**Figure 8**
BMI distribution of girls at the time of 3 consecutive anthropometric measurements, performed during the project. (BE = Belgium; BG = Bulgaria; FI = Finland; GR = Greece; HU = Hungary; ES = Spain).

See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Differences in Anthropometric Parameters of Children in Six European Countries

Affiliations

Differences in Anthropometric Parameters of Children in Six European Countries

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources