Prevalence and tracking of weight disorders in Italian primary school students: a three-year follow-up

Obesity has been widely described as the latest epidemic, and in some areas obesity co-exists with undernutrition. The purpose of this study was to assess the variability of weight status of a cohort of 279 Italian primary school students followed longitudinally for three years. Overweight was the most common weight status disorder in both sexes and generally prevailed in females. Underweight was also more frequent in females than males, while males generally showed a higher incidence of obesity. Overweight showed the highest stability in females. In males, tracking of overweight was 62.5%, while that of normal weight was 89.36%. Overweight tracks through the three consecutive years in a high percentage of both sexes. In the whole sample (regardless of sex and weight category), overweight shows the highest increase over the three-year period. This study provides public health professionals with useful data for policy planning in regard to childhood obesity.