Longitudinal analysis of obesity and overweight status among students in the continental region of Croatia

There has been a concerning increase in obesity among schoolgirls and schoolboys in the Republic of Croatia, with a negative trend recorded in numerous studies. The aim of this research was to conduct a longitudinal study over a period of 10 years in the continental part of Croatia to obtain results on the state of obesity among school-aged children. Anthropometric measurements were conducted on a sample of 1,558 primary school children (F=708; M=850) in Ivanić Grad (Continental Croatia). The students were aged between 11 and 15 years, and measurements included body weight, height, BMI (Body Mass Index), and subcutaneous fat tissue. The study was conducted over the period from 2013 to 2023. We found that a higher percentage of male students were obese (65.34%) compared to female students (34.65%). Similarly, a greater proportion of overweight students with excessive body weight were male (58.15%) compared to female students (41.85%), with a Chi-squared test result of p=0.054p. A statistically significant difference was observed among grade levels for Body Mass Index (BMI), with the highest rates of obesity (8.04%) and overweight status (16.82%) occurring among older students, while the highest number of underweight students was found in the fifth grade (40.57%) (p<0.001). The results for subcutaneous fat tissue indicated that fifth-grade students had an average body fat percentage of 29.34%, the highest across all grades analyzed (p<0.001). This research further confirmed the high levels of obesity among male and female students in the continental part of Croatia. Only education from preschool age, dietary changes, and continuous health-oriented physical activity, in collaboration with various preventive programs, can serve as a foundation to reverse these negative trends.