Abstract
Background: Investigations into the main drivers of childhood obesity are vital to implement effective interventions to halt the global rise in levels. The use of a composite score may help to identify children most at risk of overweight/obesity.
Objectives: To investigate the cumulative impact of factors associated with overweight/obesity risk in children.
Methods: Data were analysed from the Irish National Children's Food Survey II which included 600 children, aged 5–12‐years. The risk factors examined included social class, parental, early life, lifestyle, and dietary components. A composite score was calculated which ranged from 0 (no risk factors for overweight/obesity) to 4 (4 risk factors for overweight/obesity).
Results: In model 1 (%BF) the four factors associated with overweight/obesity risk were having a parent with overweight/obesity (odds ratio 3.1; 95% confidence interval 1.9–4.8), having a high birth weight of ≥4 kg (2.5; 1.6–3.9), being from a low social class (2.3; 1.4–3.8) and low physical activity (1.9; 1.2–2.8). Children who scored 3–4 points on the composite score had a 10‐fold (10.0; 4.2–23.9) increased risk of overweight/obesity compared to those with 0 points, a sevenfold (7.2; 3.9–13.5) increased risk compared to those with 1 point and a threefold (2.6; 1.4–4.8) increased risk compared to those with 2 points, with similar results observed in model 2 (BMI).
Conclusion: The use of a composite score is a beneficial means of identifying children at risk of overweight/obesity and may prove useful in the development of effective interventions to tackle childhood obesity.
Objectives: To investigate the cumulative impact of factors associated with overweight/obesity risk in children.
Methods: Data were analysed from the Irish National Children's Food Survey II which included 600 children, aged 5–12‐years. The risk factors examined included social class, parental, early life, lifestyle, and dietary components. A composite score was calculated which ranged from 0 (no risk factors for overweight/obesity) to 4 (4 risk factors for overweight/obesity).
Results: In model 1 (%BF) the four factors associated with overweight/obesity risk were having a parent with overweight/obesity (odds ratio 3.1; 95% confidence interval 1.9–4.8), having a high birth weight of ≥4 kg (2.5; 1.6–3.9), being from a low social class (2.3; 1.4–3.8) and low physical activity (1.9; 1.2–2.8). Children who scored 3–4 points on the composite score had a 10‐fold (10.0; 4.2–23.9) increased risk of overweight/obesity compared to those with 0 points, a sevenfold (7.2; 3.9–13.5) increased risk compared to those with 1 point and a threefold (2.6; 1.4–4.8) increased risk compared to those with 2 points, with similar results observed in model 2 (BMI).
Conclusion: The use of a composite score is a beneficial means of identifying children at risk of overweight/obesity and may prove useful in the development of effective interventions to tackle childhood obesity.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | e12922 |
| Journal | Pediatric Obesity |
| Early online date | 23 May 2022 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Early online date - 23 May 2022 |
Keywords
- ORIGINAL RESEARCH
- children
- composite score
- determinants
- obesity
- risk factors
Access to Document
- Application of a composite scoring protocol to identify factors that contribute to the risk of overweight and obesity in Irish children
Copyright 2022 the authors. This is an open access article published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits distribution and reproduction for non-commercial purposes, provided the author and source are cited.