Abstract
Excessive body weight during adolescence represents a significant public health problem worldwide. Identifying factors associated with its development is crucial. We estimated the prevalence of overweight and obesity in a representative sample of 11, 13 and, 15-year-olds living in Greece and explored the association with diet-related behaviours and habits. Self-reported data on weight, height, diet-related behaviours and habits were used from 3816 students (1898 boys, 1918 girls) participants in the Greek arm of the international Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) study during 2018. Overweight and obesity were defined using the 2007 WHO growth charts classification. Prevalence of overweight was 19.4% in the total sample, 24.1% for boys and 14.7% for girls, and prevalence of obesity was 5.3% in the total sample, 7.3% for boys and 3.4% for girls, respectively. In the total sample, overweight (including obesity) was positively associated with male gender, low family affluence, skipping breakfast, and being on a diet, and inversely associated with age and being physically active. Eating rarely with the family was positively associated with overweight only among boys and eating snacks/meals in front of screens only among girls. No association was noted for eating in fast-food restaurants, consuming vegetables, fruits, sweets, and sugar-sweetened beverages.
Highlights
Over the years, excess body weight during childhood and adolescence has emerged as one of the most serious public health problems globally [1]
The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of overweight and obesity in a nationally representative sample of adolescents aged 11, 13, and 15 years old living in Greece during 2018 and to further explore its association with diet-related behaviours and habits with the ultimate goal of contributing to the development of evidencebased recommendations for the prevention and management of overweight and obesity in these age groups
For the three behaviours related to eating snacks/meals in front of TV/screens (b–d) we further developed a combined score ranging from 0–6
Summary
Excess body weight during childhood and adolescence has emerged as one of the most serious public health problems globally [1]. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2016, 18% of children and adolescents aged. Overweight and obesity have important short and long-term adverse consequences on physical, mental, and emotional health of the child and future adult [1]. Studying the role of diet-related behaviours and dietary habits in the aetiology and prevention of overweight and obesity during childhood and adolescence has become increasingly important, since these behaviours and habits are formed early in life and have the potential to be modified, with difficulty, in the future. Addressing obesity and losing weight during adulthood is much more challenging, especially after the age of 35 [5]
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