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Longitudinal age-and cohort trends in body mass index in Sweden - a 24-year follow-up study

Karadag, Özge LU ; Calling, Susanna LU ; Midlöv, Patrik LU orcid ; Sundquist, Jan LU ; Sundquist, Kristina LU and Johansson, Sven-Erik LU (2013) In BMC Public Health 13.
Abstract
Background: The aim of this longitudinal study was to analyze whether mean Body Mass Index (BMI), assessed at four occasions, changed within different age groups and birth cohorts over time, i.e., between 1980/81 and 2004/05, after adjustment for possible confounders. Methods: A sample of 2728 men and 2770 women aged 16-71 years at study start were randomly drawn from the Swedish Total Population Register and followed from 1980/81 to 2004/05. The same sample was assessed on four occasions during the 24-year study period (i.e., every eighth year). The outcome variable, BMI, was based on self-reported height and weight. A mixed model, with random intercept and random slope, was used to estimate annual changes in BMI within the different age... (More)
Background: The aim of this longitudinal study was to analyze whether mean Body Mass Index (BMI), assessed at four occasions, changed within different age groups and birth cohorts over time, i.e., between 1980/81 and 2004/05, after adjustment for possible confounders. Methods: A sample of 2728 men and 2770 women aged 16-71 years at study start were randomly drawn from the Swedish Total Population Register and followed from 1980/81 to 2004/05. The same sample was assessed on four occasions during the 24-year study period (i.e., every eighth year). The outcome variable, BMI, was based on self-reported height and weight. A mixed model, with random intercept and random slope, was used to estimate annual changes in BMI within the different age groups and birth cohorts. Results: Mean BMI increased from 24.1 to 25.5 for men and from 23.1 to 24.3 for women during the 24-year study period. The annual change by age group was highest in the ages of 32-39, 40-47 and 48-55 years among men, and in the ages of 24-31, 32-39, and 40-47 years among women. The highest annual changes were found in the youngest birth cohorts for both men and women, i.e., those born 1958-65, 1966-73, and 1974-81. For each birth cohort, the annual change in BMI increased compared to the previous, i.e., older, birth cohort. In addition, age-by-cohort interaction tests revealed that the increase in BMI by increasing age was higher in the younger birth cohorts (1966-1989) than in the older ones. Conclusions: Public health policies should target those age groups and birth cohorts with the highest increases in BMI. For example, younger birth cohorts had higher annual increases in BMI than older birth cohorts, which means that younger cohorts increased their BMI more than older ones during the study period. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Age, Birth cohort, Body mass index, Longitudinal data, Mixed models
in
BMC Public Health
volume
13
article number
893
publisher
BioMed Central (BMC)
external identifiers
  • wos:000325074900002
  • scopus:84885060704
  • pmid:24074433
ISSN
1471-2458
DOI
10.1186/1471-2458-13-893
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
a76c92d6-be9f-415d-98ef-278054a9e962 (old id 4172153)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 14:48:42
date last changed
2022-04-01 02:29:53
@article{a76c92d6-be9f-415d-98ef-278054a9e962,
  abstract     = {{Background: The aim of this longitudinal study was to analyze whether mean Body Mass Index (BMI), assessed at four occasions, changed within different age groups and birth cohorts over time, i.e., between 1980/81 and 2004/05, after adjustment for possible confounders. Methods: A sample of 2728 men and 2770 women aged 16-71 years at study start were randomly drawn from the Swedish Total Population Register and followed from 1980/81 to 2004/05. The same sample was assessed on four occasions during the 24-year study period (i.e., every eighth year). The outcome variable, BMI, was based on self-reported height and weight. A mixed model, with random intercept and random slope, was used to estimate annual changes in BMI within the different age groups and birth cohorts. Results: Mean BMI increased from 24.1 to 25.5 for men and from 23.1 to 24.3 for women during the 24-year study period. The annual change by age group was highest in the ages of 32-39, 40-47 and 48-55 years among men, and in the ages of 24-31, 32-39, and 40-47 years among women. The highest annual changes were found in the youngest birth cohorts for both men and women, i.e., those born 1958-65, 1966-73, and 1974-81. For each birth cohort, the annual change in BMI increased compared to the previous, i.e., older, birth cohort. In addition, age-by-cohort interaction tests revealed that the increase in BMI by increasing age was higher in the younger birth cohorts (1966-1989) than in the older ones. Conclusions: Public health policies should target those age groups and birth cohorts with the highest increases in BMI. For example, younger birth cohorts had higher annual increases in BMI than older birth cohorts, which means that younger cohorts increased their BMI more than older ones during the study period.}},
  author       = {{Karadag, Özge and Calling, Susanna and Midlöv, Patrik and Sundquist, Jan and Sundquist, Kristina and Johansson, Sven-Erik}},
  issn         = {{1471-2458}},
  keywords     = {{Age; Birth cohort; Body mass index; Longitudinal data; Mixed models}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{BioMed Central (BMC)}},
  series       = {{BMC Public Health}},
  title        = {{Longitudinal age-and cohort trends in body mass index in Sweden - a 24-year follow-up study}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/4183210/4431949.pdf}},
  doi          = {{10.1186/1471-2458-13-893}},
  volume       = {{13}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}