The United States had the highest proportion of overweight teen-agers in a study comparing adolescents in 15 countries, Danish researchers said on Monday.

But some children in Greece, Ireland and Portugal are gaining on their American counterparts, said the study of nearly 30,000 youths aged 13 and 15 surveyed between 1997 and 1998.

Teen-agers were relatively svelte in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Lithuania and Sweden. Lithuania had the lowest proportion of overweight teens, the study said.

Other countries in the study were Austria, Finland, Israel and Slovakia.

Among 15-year-old Americans, 15 percent of girls and 14 percent of boys were overweight. In Lithuania, only 2 percent of girls and less than 1 percent of boys that age were overweight.

Among those age 13 in the United States, the overweight figures were 12 percent for boys and 10 percent for girls.

Greece had the next highest proportion of overweight 13-year-old boys, at 8 percent, followed by Ireland at 7 percent. Portugal had the next highest proportion of overweight 13-year-old girls at 8 percent, followed by Ireland at 6 percent.

Among boys age 15, Greece came in second to the United States at 10 percent followed by Israel at 6 percent. For non-US 15-year-old girls, Portugal had the next highest proportion at 6 percent followed by Denmark.

"US adolescents report(ed) a higher prevalence of overweight than any of the European countries or regions or Israel," said study author Inge Lissau of Denmark's National Institute of Public Health in Copenhagen.

The report was published the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

Obesity has been declared a global health threat by the World Health Organization, as it can lead to cardiovascular disease, diabetes and other ailments. Between half and 80 percent of obese teen-agers become obese adults, the study said.

The measurements in the study were based on body mass index + a figure calculated on weight and height.

The study did not explore the reason for the differences by country but said the findings generally agree with previous research linking diet and sedentary lifestyles to obesity.

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