School environment and its relationship with obesity in the state of Mexico

Abstract

ObjectiveTo examine the role of individual‐level, school student composition, and school built environment on the overweight and obesity in schools, involved in the strategy “nutrition on the go”.MethodsWe built school environment classifications based on food availability representing six groups (milk; dairy products, juices and nectars, pastries and fried foods, oilseeds and pulses). We used averages per school from individual information: socioeconomic index, physical activity, television viewing time, and the ratings of knowledge and self‐efficacy of feeding and physical activity. The classification of school environment was made using Wardˈs cluster method; we choose 3 clusters. A logistic regression model was used to study the association between overweight and obesity with the school environment.ResultsThe 3 school environments are: 1) Class 1: medium consumption and high in the rest. 2) Class 2: average consumption and low the rest; and 3) Class3: low consumption, knowledge and self efficacy of feeding and physical activity, intermediate the rest. The effect of school environment on the probability of overweight and obesity in children is protective when it was in class 2 and 3,and when the children are involved in the intervention group (p=0.01).ConclusionsOur findings suggest that school composition highly influences obesity rates beyond individual‐level factors.