One if five Israeli teenagers is overweight or obese, according to the first comprehensive survey of its kind conducted by the Ministry of Health.
Until now, the ministry has only collected data on nutrition and weight for 25-64 age groups, and only had estimates regarding the 12-18 age group. The ministry's new survey covered representative sample of 6,487 junior high and high school pupils across Israel.
The survey found that 18.5% of teenagers aged 12-18 were overweight or obese. Nonetheless, Israel is much better shape than the US, where 46% of teenagers are overweight or obese.
More boys are overweight and obese than girls. Proportionally, more Arabs teenagers are overweight than Jews, 22.5%, compared with 15.4%. Poorer teenagers are more likely to be overweight than wealthier teenagers. There was no link between socioeconomic profile and teenagers of normal weight.
Ministry of Health Food and Nutrition department head Dr. Dorit Nitzan-Klosky, who conducted the survey, said that there was an inverse relationship between age and obesity among teenagers. 14.6% of Jewish 17-year olds were overweight and 2.3% were obese.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on October 5, 2004