Prevalence of thinness, overweight and obesity among Tibetan adolescents aged 12-17 years.

OBJECTIVE To estimate the prevalence of thinness, overweight and obesity among Tibetan adolescents aged 12-17 years. DESIGN Cross-sectional survey. SETTING Shigatse city of Tibet municipality, with an average altitude of more than 4000 m. SUBJECTS Study participants included 2,642 adolescents aged 12-17 years selected from 6 schools using a convenient cluster sampling method. RESULTS The prevalence of thinness/overweight/obesity among Tibetan adolescents was 9.4%/5.4%/1.4% (China definition), 14.7%/4.4%/0.7% (IOTF definition), and 2.8%/5.7%/0.9% (WHO definition). The prevalence of thinness and overweight was significantly different between both sexes based on each of three BMI classification criteria (P 0.05), whereas an upward trend was observed for thinness in boys according to the IOTF definition (P for trend <0.05). In contrast, the prevalence of thinness tended to decrease with increasing age in girls according to the IOTF definition, and in total sample according to the WHO definition (P for trend <0.05). CONCLUSIONS Among Tibetan adolescents, the prevalence of overweight and obesity is relatively low, while the prevalence of thinness is high, especially in boys. These data suggest urgent attention is needed to control adolescent thinness in Tibet.