Until quite recently, there has been a widespread belief in the popular media and scientific literature that the prevalence
of childhood obesity is rapidly increasing. However, high quality evidence has emerged from several countries suggesting
that the rise in the prevalence has slowed appreciably, or even plateaued. This review brings together such data from nine
countries (Australia, China, England, France, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland and USA), with data from
467,294 children aged 2 – 19 years. The mean unweighted rate of change in prevalence of overweight and obesity was 0.00
(0.49)% per year across all age sex groups and all countries between 1995 and 2008. For overweight alone, the fi gure
was 0.01 (0.56)%, and for obesity alone 0.01 (0.24)%. Rates of change differed by sex, age, socioeconomic status and
ethnicity. While the prevalence of overweight and obesity appears to be stabilizing at different levels in different countries,
it remains high, and a signifi cant public health issue. Possible reasons for the apparent flattening are hypothesised.