Relationship between modifiable risk factors and overweight in adolescents aged 12-14 years

Spain is the European leader in overweight (O-W), partly to the social and environmental changes of the last decades. The objective of the work was to study the modifiable risk factors that lead to O-W.

A self-designed questionnaire with factors related to childhood obesity was produced, and was administered to the parents of adolescents who were attending first year of high school in four centres in Health Area V in Murcia. Weight, height, abdominal circumference and Waist-Height Index (WHI) of the students were measured, and classified as overweight-obesity. A reduction technique was applied, generating factors that grouped the items according to subject, as well as a multivalent technique to assess the dependency relationship between the variables, and the SB-OI.

Of the 421 students included, 28% and 35% had excess weight and abdominal obesity, respectively. The factor analysis grouped the items into 4 factors: diet, physical activity, technologies, and environment, with a subsection about body perception. The structural equation model presented an R² of 0.440. The highest relationship was obtained with the environment factor (t 2.89), and perception (t 14.61), followed by the use of technologies. A direct relationship was also revealed regarding diet and physical activity, although not significant.

Family perception and the social-school environment have an important influence on the development of the O-W. Health education interventions involving parents and teachers are probably the smartest and most cost-effective strategies.