Prevalence and Correlates of Overweight, Obesity and Physical Activity in Italian Children and Adolescents from Lombardy, Italy.
Chiara StivalAlessandra LugoLavinia BaroneGiovanni FattoreAnna OdoneSilvia SalvatoreEugenio SantoroSilvia ScaglioniPiet A van den BrandtSilvano Gallusnull Hbsc Lombardy Committeenull OKKio Alla Salute Lombardy CommitteePublished in: Nutrients (2022)
Investigating pediatric overweight and physical activity correlates is essential to design effective preventive programs. We used regional data (Lombardy, northern Italy) from the 2019 survey "OKKio alla Salute" (3093 children aged 8-9 years with measured anthropometric data), and from the 2018 wave of the "Health Behaviour in School-aged Children" survey (2916 adolescents aged 11-15 years with self-reported anthropometric data). In both the surveys, a cluster sampling methodology was used. Unconditional multiple logistic regression models were applied to estimate the odds ratios (OR) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) of overweight, obesity and poor physical activity. The prevalence of overweight (including obesity) was 22.4% for children aged 8-9 years and 14.4% for adolescents aged 11-15 years. A higher prevalence of overweight was observed among males, children with greater birth weight and those with obese parents. Scant physical activity was higher among females and older adolescents. There was a direct relationship between obesity and increased psychological distress (OR = 2.44; 95% CI: 1.12-5.27) or being victims of bullying (OR = 2.25; 95% CI: 1.17-4.34). Increasing physical activity significantly decreased the frequency of mental health outcomes. Prevention campaigns should be promoted to safeguard childhood physical and psychological wellbeing.
Keyphrases
- physical activity
- weight loss
- weight gain
- young adults
- metabolic syndrome
- body mass index
- birth weight
- insulin resistance
- type diabetes
- sleep quality
- bariatric surgery
- high fat diet induced
- risk factors
- electronic health record
- public health
- mental health
- adipose tissue
- healthcare
- cross sectional
- big data
- data analysis
- risk assessment
- obese patients
- skeletal muscle
- depressive symptoms
- deep learning
- artificial intelligence
- climate change