Children's overweight and obesity : Local and national monitoring using electronic health records

• Aim: To test the feasibility of a system for monitoring children's obesity and overweight based on data from electronic health records in the school health services. Methods: Data on weight and height from electronic health records at school health services were collected for 10-year-olds in 2003—2004, 2004—2005 and 2005—2006. School health personnel extracted group-level data with a simple program installed on the computer containing the health records. Four Swedish municipalities were included in the study: Karlstad, Umeå, Västerås, and Ystad. Results: The system achieved coverage of 92—96% of all children in 2005—2006. The overall prevalence rates were 4.2% (3.8—4.7%) obese and 22.0% (21.1—23.0%) overweight, including obesity. Conclusions: A system based on electronic health records from the school health services can successfully provide data. The system has practical, economical and ethical strengths.

Ämnesord

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)

Nyckelord

Child

medical records

obesity

population surveillance

school health services

Public health science

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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