Socio-cultural determinants of adiposity and physical activity in preschool children: A cross-sectional study

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Abstract

Background

Both individual socio-cultural determinants such as selected parental characteristics (migrant background, low educational level and workload) as well as the regional environment are related to childhood overweight and physical activity (PA). The purpose of the study was to compare the impact of distinct socio-cultural determinants such as the regional environment and selected parental characteristics on adiposity, PA and motor skills in preschool children.

Methods

Forty preschools (N = 542 children) of two culturally different urban regions (German and French speaking part of Switzerland) participated in the study (Ballabeina Study). Outcome measures included adiposity (BMI and skinfold thickness), objectively measured sedentary activities and PA (accelerometers) and agility performance (obstacle course). Parental characteristics (migrant status, educational level and workload) were assessed by questionnaire.

Results

Children from the French speaking areas had higher adiposity, lower levels of total and of more intense PA, were more sedentary and less agile than children from the German speaking regions (percent differences for all outcome parameters except for BMI ≥10%; all p ≤ 0.04). Differences in skinfold thickness, sedentary activities and agility, but not in PA, were also found between children of Swiss and migrant parents, though they were ≤8% ( p ≤ 0.02). While paternal workload had no effect, maternal workload and parental education resulted in differences in some PA measures and/or agility performance (percent differences in both: ≤9%, p ≤ 0.008), but not in adiposity or sedentary activities ( p = NS). Regional differences in skinfold thickness, PA, sedentary activities and agility performance persisted after adjustment for parental socio-cultural characteristics, parental BMI and, where applicable, children's skinfolds (all p ≤ 0.01).

Conclusions

The regional environment, especially the broader social environment, plays a prominent role in determining adiposity, PA and motor skills of young children and should be implicated in the prevention of obesity and promotion of PA in children.

Trial Registration

clinicaltrials.gov NCT00674544

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Most cited references 29

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Comparison of overweight and obesity prevalence in school-aged youth from 34 countries and their relationships with physical activity and dietary patterns.

I. Janssen, P T Katzmarzyk, W Boyce … (2005)

The purposes of this systematic review were to present and compare recent estimates of the prevalence of overweight and obesity in school-aged youth from 34 countries and to examine associations between overweight and selected dietary and physical activity patterns. Data consisted of a cross-sectional survey of 137 593 youth (10-16 years) from the 34 (primarily European) participating countries of the 2001-2002 Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children Study. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was determined based on self-reported height and weight and the international child body mass index standards. Logistic regression was employed to examine associations between overweight status with selected dietary and physical activity patterns. The two countries with the highest prevalence of overweight (pre-obese + obese) and obese youth were Malta (25.4% and 7.9%) and the United States (25.1% and 6.8%) while the two countries with the lowest prevalence were Lithuania (5.1% and 0.4%) and Latvia (5.9% and 0.5%). Overweight and obesity prevalence was particularly high in countries located in North America, Great Britain, and south-western Europe. Within most countries physical activity levels were lower and television viewing times were higher in overweight compared to normal weight youth. In 91% of the countries examined, the frequency of sweets intake was lower in overweight than normal weight youth. Overweight status was not associated with the intake of fruits, vegetables, and soft drinks or time spent on the computer. In conclusion, the adolescent obesity epidemic is a global issue. Increasing physical activity participation and decreasing television viewing should be the focus of strategies aimed at preventing and treating overweight and obesity in youth.

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Prevalence of overweight among children in Europe.

M Frelut, T Lobstein (2003)

Estimates of the prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity have been made in several European countries during the last decade. The methods used and the assessment criteria differ from survey to survey. The present paper reports the prevalence data from 21 surveys in Europe using a single, internationally accepted definition of overweight in childhood, allowing direct comparisons to be made. A tendency for a higher prevalence of overweight among children in western and especially southern Europe is shown and some possible reasons for this are discussed.

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Using objective physical activity measures with youth: how many days of monitoring are needed?

P Freedson, Russell R. Pate, Jonathan Taylor … (2000)

The purpose of this study was to establish the minimal number of days of monitoring required for accelerometers to assess usual physical activity in children. A total of 381 students (189 M, 192 F) wore a CSA 7164 uniaxial accelerometer for seven consecutive days. To examine age-related trends students were grouped as follows: Group I: grades 1-3 (N = 92); Group II: grades 4-6 (N = 98); Group III: grades 7-9 (N = 97); Group IV: grades 10-12 (N = 94). Average daily time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was calculated from minute-by-minute activity counts using the regression equation developed by Freedson et al. (1997). Compared with adolescents in grades 7 to 12, children in grades 1 to 6 exhibited less day-to-day variability in MVPA behavior. Spearman-Brown analyses indicated that between 4 and 5 d of monitoring would be necessary to a achieve a reliability of 0.80 in children, and between 8 and 9 d of monitoring would be necessary to achieve a reliability of 0.80 in adolescents. Within all grade levels, the 7-d monitoring protocol produced acceptable estimates of daily participation in MVPA (R = 0.76 (0.71-0.81) to 0.87 (0.84-0.90)). Compared with weekdays, children exhibited significantly higher levels of MVPA on weekends, whereas adolescents exhibited significantly lower levels of MVPA on weekends. Principal components analysis revealed two distinct time components for MVPA during the day for children (early morning, rest of the day), and three distinct time components for MVPA during the day for adolescents (morning, afternoon, early evening). These results indicate that a 7-d monitoring protocol provides reliable estimates of usual physical activity behavior in children and adolescents and accounts for potentially important differences in weekend versus weekday activity behavior as well as differences in activity patterns within a given day.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): BMC Public Health

Title: BMC Public Health

Publisher: BioMed Central

ISSN (Electronic): 1471-2458

Publication date Collection: 2010

Publication date (Electronic): 26 November 2010

Volume: 10

Page: 733

Affiliations

[1 ]Institute of Exercise and Health Sciences, University of Basel, Birsstrasse 320B, 4052 Basel, Switzerland

[2 ]Institute of Sports Sciences and Physical Education, University of Lausanne, Bâtiment de Vidy, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland

[3 ]Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois and Faculty of biology and medicine, University of Lausanne, Rue de Bugnon 17, 1005 Lausanne, Switzerland

[4 ]Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, University of Basel, Socinstrasse 57, 4002 Basel, Switzerland

[5 ]Service of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, University of Lausanne, Rue de Bugnon 46, 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland

Article

Publisher ID: 1471-2458-10-733

DOI: 10.1186/1471-2458-10-733

PMC ID: 3008696

PubMed ID: 21110865

SO-VID: 8c6e200d-9fbb-45e7-9825-7ad22729f25a

License:

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (<url>http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0</url>), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Socio-cultural determinants of adiposity and physical activity in preschool children: A cross-sectional study

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Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Trial Registration

Related collections

Chinese Journal of School Health

Most cited references 29

Comparison of overweight and obesity prevalence in school-aged youth from 34 countries and their relationships with physical activity and dietary patterns.

Prevalence of overweight among children in Europe.

Using objective physical activity measures with youth: how many days of monitoring are needed?

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