Danish children born to parents with lower levels of education are more likely to become overweight

作者：Matthiessen Jeppe^*; Stockmarr Anders; Fagt Sisse; Knudsen Vibeke Kildegaard; Biltoft Jensen Anja

来源：Acta Paediatrica, 2014, 103(10): 1083-1088.

DOI：10.1111/apa.12722

• Childhood obesity
• Maternal education
• Paternal education
• Scandinavia
• Socio-economic status

AimLittle is known about whether the socio-economic status of parents is linked to their children becoming overweight. This study examined the association between parents%26apos; educational level and overweight Danish children in a nationally representative sample. %26lt;br%26gt;MethodsBody mass index was calculated for a random sample of 512 children aged from four to 14 from the Danish National Survey of Diet and Physical Activity 2005-2008. Their parents provided weight and height data during an interview, together with details of their own educational level. Children were classified as overweight/obese in accordance with the International Obesity Task Force. Frequency estimates of prevalence and logistic regression models were used to correlate childhood overweight/obesity with the mothers%26apos; and fathers%26apos; educational levels as the main outcome measures. %26lt;br%26gt;ResultsDanish mothers tended to be more highly educated than fathers and their educational level was inversely associated with their child being overweight, especially if it was a boy. However, the highest educational level of the parents was the only significant educational variable, suggesting that education was associated with overweight children irrespective of the gender of the parent. %26lt;br%26gt;ConclusionPublic health initiatives should target parents with low educational levels to prevent, and reduce, social inequality in overweight children.

• 出版日期2014-10