Associations between familial affluence and obesity risk behaviours among children

Autor: Rosemary Perry, Anita Blackstaffe, Penelope Hawe, Gavin R. McCormack
Rok vydání: 2011
Předmět:
Zdroj: Paediatrics & Child Health. 16:19-24
ISSN: 1918-1485
1205-7088
Popis: Obesity is an independent risk factor for chronic health conditions including cardiovascular disease, musculoskeletal disorders, diabetes, stroke, hypertension and cancer (1,2). Obese children are more likely to become obese adults (3,4) and are at increased risk of developing chronic diseases that were once considered to be conditions that developed in adulthood (5–7). The immediate biological cause of obesity is energy imbalance, whereby calorie intake is higher than calorie expenditure; however, genetic, societal, cultural, environmental and lifestyle factors contribute to this imbalance (2). Specifically, lifestyle factors, including decreases in physical activity (8), increases in sedentary behaviour (8,9), overconsumption of calorie-dense foods (eg, sugar-sweetened drinks) and underconsumption of healthful foods (eg, fruits and vegetables) (10,11), have contributed to the rapid rise in obesity among children and adolescents in recent decades. Evidence suggests that an association between socioeconomic status and obesity among adults exists (12,13). For children and adolescents, however, evidence for the association between socioeconomic status and obesity is mixed (13,14). Socioeconomic differences in obesity risk behaviours including physical activity (15,16), sedentariness (15,17), and the consumption of high-calorie foods and fruits and vegetables (18,19) among children and adolescents have been found. The mechanism by which socioeconomic status influences obesity risk behaviours and, consequently, positive energy balance is complex. Accessibility and affordability of calorie-dense food, reduced affordability of healthful food, reduced access to physical activity opportunities, and increased availability and affordability of sedentary pursuits may mediate the relationship between socioeconomic status and obesity (20). Different measures of socioeconomic status have been used to investigate obesity among children and adolescents – parental income, education and occupation are the most commonly used (14). Specifically, the family affluence scale (FAS), which captures household material wealth (ie, computer and motor vehicle ownership, family vacations and bedroom sharing), has been used to measure socioeconomic status in children and adolescents (21–23). The FAS is a measure of socioeconomic status included in the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC), a WHO Collaborative Cross-national Study (23) that is conducted in 41 countries including Canada. Relationships between the FAS and obesity risk behaviours including soft drink consumption, physical activity participation, television watching, fruit and vegetable intake, and breakfast consumption have been investigated (16,19,23–25). For example, increased soft drink and fruit consumption has been found among more affluent Scottish adolescents (24), while higher family affluence has been associated with increased intake of soft drinks, sweets and high-fat foods, and lower intake of fruits and vegetables among European adolescents (19). Associations among the FAS, physical activity and sedentary behaviour have also been reported among more affluent adolescents (16,23,25). Specifically, affluent Canadian adolescents were found to participate in more physical activity, watch less television, and were also less likely to be overweight or obese compared with less affluent adolescents (23). Relationships between family affluence and obesity risk behaviours among Canadian adolescents have been reported (23). However, these associations are derived from data aggregated across regions and may be less generalizable to localized settings such as disadvantaged urban neighbourhoods. Moreover, most studies examining associations between the FAS and obesity risk behaviours (16,19,23–25) have relied on HBSC data, which include data only from adolescents 11 to 15 years of age. It is not known whether similar associations between family affluence and obesity risk factors exist when children of younger ages are considered. Thus, the objective of the present study was to determine whether obesity risk behaviours, including physical activity, sedentary behaviour and diet, differ according to familial affluence of children attending Calgary-based elementary schools located in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighbourhoods.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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