. Venetia Notara; . Emmanuella Magriplis; . Christos Prapas; . George Antonogeorgos; . Andrea Paola Rojas‑Gil; . Ekaterina N. Kornilaki; . Areti Lagiou; . Demosthenes B. Panagiotakos
Volume 9, Issue 4 , April 2019, , Pages 1-10
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Childhood obesity remains a major health issue. The understanding of themultifactorial nature of childhood obesity remains the cornerstone to eliminate the rising trends. ...
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BACKGROUND: Childhood obesity remains a major health issue. The understanding of themultifactorial nature of childhood obesity remains the cornerstone to eliminate the rising trends. Thisstudy aimed to examine the association between parental and childhood weight status, in relationto various socioeconomic (SE) factors.METHODS: A cross‑sectional survey was conducted including 1190 children aged 10–12 years andtheir parents, during school years 2014–2016. Primary schools from five Greek counties (includingAthens metropolitan area) were randomly selected. Parental and child data were collected throughself‑administered, anonymous questionnaires. Children’s weight status was based on gender‑ andage‑specific tables derived from the International Obesity Task Force body mass index (BMI) cut offs.General Linear Model (GLM), Univariate and multivariate analyses were applied. Multiple logisticregressions was used to determine the association between children and parents’ weight status.RESULTS: Childhood prevalence of overweight and obesity was 25.9% (21.8% overweight and 4.1%obese), with prevalence being significantly higher in males (31.7% compared to 21.3%; P for genderdifferences < 0.001). The percent of overweight and obese male (34.4% and 43.1%) and femalechildren (20.3% and 31.8%) significantly increased with paternal overweight and obesity status,respectively. The same relationship was observed between male children and maternal overweight andobesity status (43.4% and 65.7%). This was not evident among females (27% and 23.2%). Regressionanalysis showed a significant positive association with parental BMI, a negative association withboth parental educational levels (low to high), living space, and parental age (P < 0.05, for all).Children’s likelihood of being overweight or obese increased significantly with increasing parentalweight status (P < 0.001).CONCLUSIONS: Parental weight status remained the most significant predictive factor for earlyadolescence obesity among various SE factors. Health promotion strategies should consider parentaleducation as an effective childhood obesity preventive measure.