Overweight and obesity in Sweden : A five year follow-up, 2004-2008

• OBJECTIVE: The number of overweight and obese persons increased through the 1980s and 1990s in Sweden, for instance for men from 35% in 1980 to 52% in 2007. This study investigated whether this trend continued over the past 5 years, including trends for diet and physical activity.MATERIALS AND METHODS:The sampling frame in these surveys was established from the Swedish National Registry where all people registered in Sweden between 18 and 84 years in 2004 and 16-84 years in 2005-08 were included.RESULTS:There were no changes in the number of overweight (approximately 42% for men and 27% for women) and obese (approximately 11% for both men and women) persons between 2004 and 2008. Approximately 65% of the men and 64% of the women were physically active for an average of 30 minutes per day in 2008. Thirteen percent of women and 5% of men reported consuming at least five servings of fruit and vegetables per day during the 5-year period.CONCLUSIONS:Sweden seems to have reached a steady state regarding overweight and obesity. It would probably be fruitful to further discuss life-style issues, such as diet and physical activity, in the Swedish healthcare system and how to deal with the social gradient.

Subject headings

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Folkhälsovetenskap, global hälsa, socialmedicin och epidemiologi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Diet

obesity

overweight

physical activity

survey data

Sweden

Public health science

Folkhälsovetenskap

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)