A nation‐wide analysis of socioeconomic and geographical disparities in the prevalence of obesity and excess weight in children and adolescents in Spain: Results from the ENE‐COVID study
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Published:2023-11-14
Issue:1
Volume:19
Page:
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ISSN:2047-6302
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Container-title:Pediatric Obesity
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language:en
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Short-container-title:Pediatric Obesity
Author:
Gutiérrez‐González Enrique1,
García‐Solano Marta1,
Pastor‐Barriuso Roberto23,
Fernández de Larrea‐Baz Nerea23,
Rollán‐Gordo Almudena1,
Peñalver‐Argüeso Belén23,
Peña‐Rey Isabel1,
Pollán Marina23,
Pérez‐Gómez Beatriz23ORCID,
Affiliation:
1. Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition Madrid Spain
2. Department of Epidemiology of Chronic Diseases, National Centre for Epidemiology Institute of Health Carlos III Madrid Spain
3. Consortium for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP) Madrid Spain
Abstract
SummaryObjectiveTo estimate national and provincial prevalence of obesity and excess weight in the child and adolescent population in Spain by sex and sociodemographic characteristics, and to explore sources of inequalities in their distribution, and their geographical patterns.MethodsENE‐COVID is a nationwide representative seroepidemiological survey (68 287 participants) stratified by province and municipality size (April–June 2020). Participants answered a questionnaire which collected self‐reported weight and height, that allowed estimating crude and model‐based standardized prevalences of obesity and excess weight in the 10 543 child and adolescent participants aged 2–17 years.ResultsCrude prevalences (WHO growth reference) were higher in boys than in girls (obesity: 13.4% vs. 7.9%; excess weight: 33.7% vs. 26.0%; severe obesity: 2.9% vs. 1.2%). These prevalences varied with age, increased with the presence of any adult with excess weight in the household, while they decreased with higher adult educational and census tract average income levels.Obesity by province ranged 1.8%–30.5% in boys and 0%–17.6% in girls; excess weight ranged 15.2%–49.9% in boys and 10.8%–40.8% in girls. The lowest prevalences of obesity and excess weight were found in provinces in the northern half of Spain. Sociodemographic characteristics only partially explained the observed geographical variability (33.6% obesity; 44.2% excess weight).ConclusionsChildhood and adolescent obesity and excess weight are highly prevalent in Spain, with relevant sex, sociodemographic and geographical differences. The geographic variability explained by sociodemographic variables indicates that there are other potentially modifiable factors on which to focus interventions at different geographic levels to fight this problem.
Funder
Instituto de Salud Carlos III
Ministerio de Sanidad, Consumo y Bienestar Social
Subject
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health,Nutrition and Dietetics,Health Policy,Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health