Original articleCo-occurrence of Obesogenic Risk Factors Among Adolescents
Section snippets
Design and participants
The study used a representative cross-sectional population-based survey of school students in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Seventy schools (35 primary and 35 high schools) were randomly selected, so that the number of schools selected in each education sector (Government, Catholic, and Independent) was proportional to the number of students enrolled in that sector. Schools that catered for children with special needs (e.g., those with autism or blindness) were excluded from the sampling
Results
Overall, 1,685 students participated in the survey (55% response rate), of which 1,568 (grade 6 = 484; grade 8 = 487; grade 10 = 597) had complete data on all five risk factors. Students with missing data on at least one risk factor (n = 117) were generally comparable with students with complete data, although a greater proportion of girls with missing data were in grade 10 (50.8% vs. 37.9%), and boys with missing data were more likely to be overweight or obese (47.2% vs. 21.6%, p = .011).
Discussion
The findings of this study indicate that behavioral risk factors are prevalent among Australian adolescents and have a tendency to co-occur. The most prevalent risk factor was high screen time among all adolescents, followed by low physical activity among girls and low fruit and vegetable intakes among boys. More than half of boys (51%) and 43% of girls reported three or more risk factors, and the co-occurrence of all five risk factors for both boys and girls was 160% greater than the
Conclusions
The prevalence of multiple behavioral risk factors among adolescents was 160% greater than expected, had the five risk factors occurred independently. Further, the co-occurrence of risk factors was more prevalent among adolescents from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, placing them at higher risk of unhealthy weight gain and ultimately, concomitant chronic diseases. Socially disadvantaged adolescents with multiple risk factor profiles should be an intervention priority.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank the participating students, families, and schools. This study (Good for Kids) was funded by the NSW Department of Health and the Hunter New England Area Health Service, NSW, Australia.
References (40)
- et al.
Clustering of lifestyle risk factors in a general adult population
Prev Med
(2002) The prevalence and clustering of four major lifestyle risk factors in an English adult population
Prev Med
(2007)- et al.
Patterns of health behavior in U.S. adults
Prev Med
(2003) - et al.
Resilience and patterns of health risk behaviors in California adolescents
Prev Med
(2009) - et al.
Chronic disease-related lifestyle risk factors in a sample of Canadian adolescents
J Adolesc Health
(2009) - et al.
Clustering of chronic disease behavioral risk factors in Canadian children and adolescents
Prev Med
(2009) - et al.
Evidence based physical activity for school-age youth
J Pediatr
(2005) - et al.
The reliability of the adolescent sedentary activity questionnaire (ASAQ)
Prev Med
(2007) - et al.
Patterns and correlates of physical activity and nutrition behaviors in adolescents
Am J Prev Med
(2007) - et al.
Relationships among multiple behaviors for childhood and adolescent obesity prevention
Prev Med
(2008)
Five-year obesity incidence in the transition period between adolescence and adulthood: The national longitudinal study of adolescent health
Am J Clin Nutr
IASO International Obesity Task ForceObesity in children and young people: A crisis in public health
Obes Rev
Foresight tackling obesities: Future choices project
Teens and screens: The influence of screen time on adiposity in adolescents
Am J Epidemiol
Preventing childhood obesity by reducing consumption of carbonated drinks: Cluster randomised controlled trial
BMJ
Foods contributing to energy intake in the US: Data from NHANES III and NHANES 1999–2000
J Food Composit Anal
Physical activity and obesity prevention: A review of the current evidence
Proc Nutr Soc'Y
Association between fruit and vegetable intake and change in body mass index among a large sample of children and adolescents in the United States
Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord
Major dietary patterns and cardiovascular risk factors from childhood to adulthoodThe cardiovascular risk in young Finns study
Br J Nutr
Best options for promoting healthy weight and preventing weight gain in NSW
Cited by (54)
Informing theoretical development of salutogenic, asset-based health improvement to reduce syndemics among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men: Empirical evidence from secondary analysis of multi-national, online cross-sectional surveys
2020, SSM - Population HealthCitation Excerpt :Data were analysed with IBM SPSS 23, and Excel. In order to investigate statistical dependence of the three ill-health outcomes, a cluster analysis using the observed/expected (O/E) ratio method was most appropriate, given the small number of outcomes of interest (Hardy et al., 2012). The O/E ratio method provides an indication of the statistical interdependence of the separate outcomes.
Global cities and cultural diversity: Challenges and opportunities for young people's nutrition
2018, Proceedings of the Nutrition SocietyAre Prior Sexual Risk Behaviors Associated With Adherence to COVID-19 Preventative Behaviors Among Young Black Men?
2023, Sexually Transmitted Diseases