Statistical presentation

Data description

The statistics contain information on the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children stated in percentage. Besides information on the prevalence of overweight and obesity, the table also contains information on sex, age, and geography.

Classification system

The statistics use the following groupings and classifications: - Geography is stated in municipality groups and municipalities, cf. the municipality groups classification. - Age is grouped according to whether the children were 6-7 years old or 14-15 years old at the time of measurement. - Gender is stated in boys and girls.

Sector coverage

The statistics cover the health sector.

Statistical concepts and definitions

Overweight: a condition where the body's fat mass is too large, which increases the risk of disease and premature death. In practice, the body mass index (BMI) is often used to measure this condition. The body mass index is calculated by BMI = weight/height2 (weight in kg and height in m), where BMI ≥25 is categorized as overweight and BMI ≥30 as obesity (severe overweight). Among children, however, it is better to use the International Obesity Task Force's (IOTF) BMI cutoffs. The IOFT has developed BMI references for children aged 2 to 18 years based on six national data sets from the Netherlands, England, Singapore, Hong Kong, Brazil, and the USA. The BMI cutoffs for overweight and obesity have been found by extrapolating the BMI percentiles corresponding to 25 and 30 kg/m2 at 18 years to BMI percentiles for, respectively, boys and girls down to 2 years of age.

Statistical unit

The statistics are observed for persons.

Statistical population

The target population includes 6-7-year-old children and 14-15-year-old young people.

Reference area

Denmark.

Time coverage

These statistics cover the time period from 2012-2018.

Base period

Not relevant for these statistics.

Unit of measure

Percentage.

Reference period

The statistics refer to the calendar year.

Frequency of dissemination

Yearly.

Legal acts and other agreements

Collection of the information takes place pursuant to the Act on Statistics Denmark, §6. There is no EU regulation for the statistics.

Cost and burden

These statistics are based on administrative data. There is thus no direct response burden in relation to the compilation of these statistics.

Comment

Further information can be obtained by contacting Statistics Denmark directly.