Co-occurrence of obesogenic risk factors among adolescents

The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence, sociodemographic distribution, and co-occurrence of five potentially obesogenic behavioral risk factors (low physical activity, high screen time, low fruit and vegetable intake, high soft drink consumption, and high snack intake) among adolescents.

Cross-sectional representative population survey (n = 1,568) of grade 6, 8, and 10 students (49% male) randomly selected from 70 primary and secondary schools in New South Wales, Australia, between February and May 2007. Co-occurrence was assessed using an observed-to-expected ratio (O/E) method.

Only 5% of boys and 9% of girls had none of the five obesogenic behavioral risk factors studied. Overall, 51.4% of boys and 42.9% of girls had three or more risk factors. Prevalence of multiple risk factors (3+) was higher among boys and girls from lower income households and among girls whose mothers had less than grade 12 education. For both boys and girls, the occurrence of all five risk factors was 160% greater than expected (O/E ratio: 2.6).

There was clear evidence of a co-occurrence of obesogenic risk factors among adolescents, especially among those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, indicating this group would benefit from targeted prevention strategies.