Abstract
BackgroundThe observed increase in body weight and cardiometabolic risk (CR) in youth from developed countries contributes to the global burden of chronic diseases in adult age. The aim of this work is to provide a patterning of the associations between different factors and the weight status and CR of the subjects involved in the Italian ministerial ASSO project.MethodsThis study involved 919 students from high schools in Palermo. Weight, height and waist circumference were collected by trained teachers; weight status was estimated by the BMI cut-offs for adolescents and CR through the waist-to-height ratio. Questionnaires were administered through the web-based ASSO-NutFit software. Chi-square test investigated the variables significantly associated with the outcomes, which were then included in a Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA), to explore their dimensional relationship to weight status and CR. Poisson regressions were conducted separately for the two outcomes, reporting raw and adjusted prevalence ratios (PRs) and Bootstrap Method was used to determine confidence intervals (CIs), to assessing the degree of effect of the explanatory variables over the outcomes.ResultsTwo main dimensions were evidenced, with the overweight/obese group and the group at CR characterized by the following strongly associated factors: male gender, overweight/obese parents, following a slimming regime, caesarean birth, sedentariness, being under/overweight at birth, presence of metabolic risk, going to school by car/scooter, not using supplements.ConclusionsThis study contributed to identifying those adolescents that should be prioritized in interventions aiming at reducing overweight/obesity and CR in this age group.
Highlights
The observed increase in body weight and cardiometabolic risk (CR) in youth from developed countries contributes to the global burden of chronic diseases in adult age
Weight status and CR were significantly associated, with overweight/obese subjects being at higher CR (PR 7.86, confidence intervals (CI) 5.68–10.87, p < 0.001)
The present study investigated the characteristics of a sample of adolescents in Southern Italy and the associations of weight status and CR with socio-demographic, early life, clinical, lifestyle and food habits factors
Summary
The observed increase in body weight and cardiometabolic risk (CR) in youth from developed countries contributes to the global burden of chronic diseases in adult age. The aim of this work is to provide a patterning of the associations between different factors and the weight status and CR of the subjects involved in the Italian ministerial ASSO project. The obesity and overweight status in youth have been widely investigated in the last decades and its contribution to the global burden of chronic disease and disability has been highlighted [1, 2]. The recently piloted Italian ASSO (Adolescents and Surveillance System for the Obesity prevention) Project, funded by the Italian Ministry of Health, aimed to develop and test an innovative web-based system that allows a continuous and standardized data collection about health and lifestyle of adolescents in the school environment [13]. The aims of this work were to evaluate associations between these variables and overweight/obesity risk and CR of the subjects involved in the ministerial ASSO project, and identify groups at risk and patterns of associations by exploring analytically and visually the dimensional relationships
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
