Übergewicht bei jungen Erwachsenen in Deutschland: Zeitliche Trends und Relevanz für die gesundheitsbezogene Umweltbeobachtung – Ergebnisse aus der Umweltprobenbank des Bundes
Bartel-Steinbach, Martina; Conrad, André; von Briesen, Hagen; Kolossa-Gehring, Marike; Lermen, Dominik
UMID: Umwelt und Mensch - Informationsdienst 3, 2013, 31-37
Overweight in young adults: Time trends in Germany and relevance for the health-related environmental monitoring program – Results of the German Environmental Specimen Bank
Abstract
Data generated by the German Environmental Specimen Bank (ESB) reflect the increasing prevalence of overweight in the German population: The body mass index (BMI) of the 20-29-year-olds participating in the yearly ESB sampling campaigns increased significantly from 1981-2011. A similar increase was observed for the fraction of overweight participants, with males being more likely overweight than females. Nutritional behavior is often very important for the human exposure to pollutants. As some pollutants may accumulate in fatty tissue, a high BMI may lead to comparatively low pollutant concentrations in human blood or urine samples. Therefore, the trend toward more overweight is highly relevant for assessing the ESB time trends of human exposure to environmental pollutants. Further data analyses aim at elucidating which role changes in BMI of ESB participants play in this context.