Gender, type of education, family background and overweight in adolescents

To examine gender-specific socio-educational correlations of overweight in adolescents enrolled in post-mandatory education.

Data were drawn from the Swiss Multicenter Adolescent Survey on Health, a cross-sectional study conducted on a representative sample of 3439 females and 4109 males aged 16 to 20 and enrolled in either vocational education (apprentices) or full time school (students). Adolescents reporting a body mass index (BMI) > 85th percentile for age and gender were compared with those reporting a BMI around the median (25th-75th percentile).

Multivariate logistic regression showed that apprentices of both genders were more likely to report a BMI > or = 85th percentile than students: odds ratio (OR) in females 1.49 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.11, 1.99), OR in males 1.61 (95%CI 1.19, 2.19). In females, but not in males, reported BMI was associated with parental education level (father with baccalaureate or university degree, OR = 1.00; father with vocational proficiency certificate, OR = 1.48 [95% CI 1.06, 2.07] and father without post-mandatory education, OR =3.44 [95% CI 2.20, 5.38]).

The observed differences in the correlation of parents' and adolescents' own educational status with overweight suggest that parental and adolescents' own education represent distinct risk factors for overweight. Apprentices' higher risk of being overweight might be of particular interest for prevention, as they represent a large number of adolescents, who enter the adult workforce at a young age. Overall, socio-educational characteristics explained only a small fraction of the variance in overweight, particularly in males.