10-Year Changes in Adiposity in Cameroon School-Age Children: Evidence for Increasing Central Adiposity and Higher Adiposity Levels in Tallest-for-Age Children

Objective. To examine changes in measures of adiposity and determine the prevalence of excess adiposity in relation to height in school children between 2010 and 2020. Methods. 5–12-year-old urban school-age children participated in two cross-sectional surveys in 2010 (n = 1274) and 2020 (n = 1550). Standard procedures were used for anthropometric measurements. Changes in BMI, waist circumference (WC), and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) and the corresponding proportions of children with excess adiposity were analyzed and adjusted for design variables (class and school type) and age. Children were classified according to quartiles of height z-score and prevalence of excess adiposity estimated across each quartile. Results. There was a 2.4% and 3.3% increase in adjusted mean BMI and WC, respectively, between 2010 and 2020. The prevalence of central overweight/obesity (WC) and WHtR ≥ 0.5 increased by 7.3% (X2 = 27.151, p