Physical Activity, Fitness and the Energy Cost of Activities: Implications for Obesity in Children and Adolescents in the Tropics - Advances in Food and Nutrition Research - page 58

16.3

Algeria

10.9

31.8
32.1

Barbados
Benin
British
Cook
Costa Rica
Djibouti ∗
Dominica
Egypt
Fiji
Ghana ∗
Guatemala
Guyana
India ∗
Indonesia ∗
Jamaica
Kiribati
Libya
Malawi
Malaysia
Mauritania
Mauritius
Myanmar ∗
Nauru
Niue ∗∗
Pakistan
Peru
Philippines
Saint Kitts
Seychelles ∗
Solomon
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Suriname
Thailand ∗
Trinidad
Uganda ∗
Uruguay
Vanuatu
Yemen ∗

13.6

8.4

37.8
35.8 58.9

58.2

27.3
28.2

20.5

13.4

25.9

24

34.1

30.7

20.4

17.9

9.9

4.1

27.3
26.8

15.9
14.6

9.7

11.6

6.2

14

25.2

18.1

46.4

31.9

8.7
7. 8.6

3.6

22.2 25.3 28
17.6 19.3
22.7

Girls
Boys

6

4

48.9

40

60.3

8.7

5.1

18.7

21.8

9.3 11.3

32.5
32.6

25.9

23
22.4

17.6

4. 4.8

13.4

9.6

19.2
19.3

13.2

19.8

25

27.5

11.6

2.1

25

29.7

13.6

8.9

11.4
12

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Figure 2.3 Proportion of obese adolescents (13-15 years) in the tropics. Definition of
obese: > þ2 SD frommedian for BMI-for-age and sex. * According to World Health Orga-
nization (WHO) growth reference for school-aged children and adolescents. ** No data
for girls. Data source: Global School-based Health Survey (GSHS) ( WHO, 2011 ) .

tropical island in the South Pacific, ranked the highest for the obesity rate
(29.7%), indicating that almost 3 in 10 adolescents are obese. This rate is
somewhat higher (1.6 times) than the rates that have been reported in the
United States, in which 18% of the adolescents aged 12-19 years were found
to be obese in 2010 ( Ogden, Carroll, Kit, & Flegal, 2012 ).
In European and North American regions ( WHO Europe, 2008 ) , the
Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) study that involved
41 countries (primarily European) revealed that the prevalence of over-
weight or obesity was 14% for 11-year-old children and 13% for both