E. Durantauleria et al., FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH WEIGHT-FOR-HEIGHT AND SKINFOLD THICKNESS IN BRITISH CHILDREN, Journal of epidemiology and community health, 49(5), 1995, pp. 466-473
Study objective - To examine the associations of social and biological
factors with measures of obesity in children. Design - The study had
a cross sectional design. Setting - The analyses were based on data fr
om two national study of health and growth cross sectional surveys. Th
e ''representative sample'' comprised 1990 data from 22 English areas
and 1990-91 data from 14 Scottish areas; the ''inner city sample'' com
prised 1991 data from 20 English areas. Participants - The subjects we
re primary school children aged mainly 5-11 years living in England an
d Scotland. The ''representative'' sample included 10 628 children - 6
463 living in England and 4165 living in Scotland. The ''inner city''
sample included 7049 children - 2183 white, 1124 Afro-Caribbean, 2696
Indian subcontinent, and 1046 from other groups. Due to missing values
on continuous variables, 8374 children were included in the analyses.
Measurements and main results - The relation between social environme
nt and childhood overweight was studied using several indicators of ob
esity. Triceps, subscapular, the sum of triceps and subscapular skinfo
lds, and weight for height were used as dependent variables. The analy
ses were carried out in two stages. Firstly, multiple linear regressio
n analyses were used to assess the factors associated with dependent v
ariables treated as continuous. Secondly, multiple linear logistic reg
ression analyses were used to examine the association between independ
ent factors and overweight and fatness defined as binary variables. Bi
rth weight, mother's body mass index (BMI), and father's BMI were cons
istently associated (p < 0.001) in all models and were the variables t
hat contributed most to the explained variation in the dependent varia
bles. In the multiple regression analyses there was a consistent inter
action between the effects of ethnic origin and family size on each ou
tcome variable. In the logistic regression analyses the interaction wa
s not significant, and highly significant associations between both ov
erweight and fatness with the number of children were shown. Ethnic gr
oup was not significantly associated with overweight but it was with f
atness. The strengths of the remaining significant associations were s
light and inconsistent inrelation to the dependent variables or the ty
pe of analysis. Conclusion - Very few variables were associated with m
easures of overweight and fatness. The only useful factor that was hig
hly associated with all measures of fatness was the parents' BMI. Stra
tegies to prevent childhood obesity should be aimed at the total popul
ation and special emphasis should be placed on families in which one o
r both parents are overweight.