RESEARCH ARTICLE Ethnic differences and par

Full list of author information is available at the end of the articleBackground Overweight and obesity have increased worldwide. In 2010, more than one in ten of the world’s adult popula-tion was obese [1]. Being overweight as a child increases the risk of being overweight as an adult [2,3]. Childhood overweight and obesity have detrimental effects on both physical and mental health of children, including increased risk for high cholesterol, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes [4], social discrimination and low-self-esteem [5]. There is therefore general agreement that it is important to start overweight prevention at an early age. Repeating international evidence exists that in west-ern countries prevalences of obesity and overweight are highest among ethnic minority groups [6-9]. In Dutch children from Turkish origin, prevalence rates are two to three times higher than in autochthonous Dutch chil-dren [10,11]. A recent study found that the prevalence of overweight and obesity increases faster among Turkis