Growing ethnic disparities in prevalence of overweight and obesity in children 2-15 years in the Netherlands

Background: Overweight and obesity rates stabilized or declined in the largest ethnic groups in the Netherlands, while reports on thinness are conflicting. Ethnic inequalities in time trends are unknown. The aim of this study was to examine (differences in) trends in overweight (including obesity), obesity, severe obesity and thinness in children of Dutch, Turkish, Moroccan and South Asian descent. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study based on 135 150 height and weight measurements, taken between 2007 and 2015 in 77 058 children, aged 2-15 years, living in the city of The Hague (the Netherlands). Trends were determined with logistic regression. An interaction term was added to the model to test for effects of ethnicity on time trends. Results: In Dutch children, overweight, obesity and severe obesity rates declined between 2007 and 2015, while overweight remained stable in Turkish, Moroccan and South Asian children. Turkish children showed a decrease in obesity (OR 0.981; 95% confidence interval 0.965-0.998), and Moroccan children in severe obesity (OR 0.918; 95% CI 0.877-0.962). South Asian children had the highest overweight and obesity rates of all ethnic groups (32.7 and 21.5% in 2015, respectively). Thinness rates were generally low and only decreased in South Asian children (0.940; 95% CI 0.886-0.997). Conclusions: Ethnic inequalities in overweight and obesity rates widened since 2007, despite a decline in overweight and/ or obesity in most ethnic groups. Ethnic specific interventions are highly needed, especially for South Asian children.