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Updated: May 22, 2026
09:36
Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
Published on: February 2, 2017
[Overweight children--how important is the urban/rural factor?]
Nora Heyerdahl1, Geir Aamodt, Rannveig Nordhagen
1Divisjon for epidemiologi, Nasjonalt folkehelseinstitutt. nora.heyerdahl@fhi.no
Summary
Overweight in Norwegian children is linked to rural living. Rural children have a higher prevalence of overweight compared to their urban counterparts, suggesting environmental factors play a role.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health
- Environmental Epidemiology
- Public Health
Background:
- Preventing childhood overweight requires understanding environmental influences.
- Investigating the link between urbanicity and overweight in Norwegian children is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the relationship between living in urban or rural areas and overweight status in Norwegian eight-year-olds.
- To identify environmental factors associated with childhood overweight.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study of 3473 eight-year-olds in Norway (Children's growth in Norway 2008).
- Measurement of weight, height, and waist circumference.
- Regression analyses to assess associations between overweight/waist measurement and municipality characteristics (centrality, population density).
Main Results:
- Children in central municipalities had lower odds of being overweight (OR = 0.66).
- Children in high population density areas had smaller average waist measurements.
- Trends suggested links between overweight and population density/inhabitants, and waist measurement and centrality/population density, though not all statistically significant.
Conclusions:
- A higher percentage of overweight children reside in rural areas compared to urban areas.
- Socioeconomic factors like education and income may mediate the impact of urbanicity on childhood overweight and waist measurements.
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