Abstract
BackgroundTo assess whether the relationship between neighborhood socioeconomic context of residence and childhood obesity is explained by family socioeconomic position, risk behaviors and availability of sports facilities.MethodsBased on the income and educational level of residents in the neighborhoods of the city of Madrid, two indicators of socioeconomic context were calculated using the information about income and education and grouped into quartiles. In a sample of 727 children aged 6–15 years, the relationship of these indicators with overweight and obesity was studied using multilevel logit models.ResultsWith respect to children and adolescents living in neighborhoods having higher per capita incomes or higher population percentages with university education those living in neighborhoods having lower per capita incomes or lower population percentages with university education had age- and sex-adjusted odds ratios (ORs) of overweight that were 1.84 (95% CI, 1.03-3.29) and 1.68 (0.95-2.94) times higher, respectively. After adjustment for family socioeconomic position, unhealthy diet and physical inactivity, these ORs fell to 1.80 (0.99-3.29) and 1.56 (0.87-2.79), respectively. In the case of obesity, the age- and sex-adjusted ORs in these quartiles of both indicators of socioeconomic context were 3.35 (1.06-10.60) and 3.29 (1.03-10.52), respectively, rising to 3.77 (1.12-12.70) and 3.42 (1.00-11.68) after adjustment for the remaining variables. The highest OR was observed in the third quartile, except in the case of the relationship between per capita income and obesity. No relationship between the number of sport facilities per 1,000 population and physical inactivity was observed.ConclusionThe socioeconomic context is associated with obesity but not with overweight children in Madrid. The relationship is not explained by family socioeconomic position, risk behaviors and availability of sports facilities.
Highlights
To assess whether the relationship between neighborhood socioeconomic context of residence and childhood obesity is explained by family socioeconomic position, risk behaviors and availability of sports facilities
Significant difference was observed for overweight, obesity, educational level and occupation of primary household earner, and number of sports facilities per 1000 population
Our findings show that children and adolescents residing in Madrid neighborhoods with worse socioeconomic indicators show higher prevalence of overweight and obesity that those residents in neighborhoods with better socioeconomic indicators
Summary
To assess whether the relationship between neighborhood socioeconomic context of residence and childhood obesity is explained by family socioeconomic position, risk behaviors and availability of sports facilities. Due to its high prevalence, childhood obesity is an important public health problem in many developed countries [1]. The relevance of this is because obesity in children increases their risk of obesity in adulthood [2] and development of chronic diseases [3,4]. It has likewise been shown that there are fewer sports facilities in lower- than in higher-income areas, so that the probability of engaging in physical activity is lower [17]
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