Prevalence and risk factors for overweight among Chinese adolescents

Abstract

Background The study aims to investigate the relationship between overweight and demographic characteristics and health-related parameters.

Methods A self-administrated survey was distributed to 30 primary schools and 25 secondary schools. A descriptive analysis was conducted to demonstrate the proportions of characteristics and the prevalence of overweight among students with various characteristics. Separate binary regression models were set up to examine the association with the outcome variables (overweight) and the aforementioned factors. In this study, overweight is defined as over 120% of median weight-for-height local growth charts. This study was funded by Quality Education Fund (EDB/QEF22/17/7), Hong Kong.

Results We have collected a total of 4,884 responses. The prevalence of overweight was 17.3% and 16.8% for primary school grade 4 (mean age: 10.06) and secondary school grade 3 (mean age: 15.28) students respectively. According to the multivariate logistic regression, the male sex was associated with an increased risk of being overweight in both groups (Primary: aOR: 2.55, 95% CI: 1.77-3.67, p<0.001, Secondary: aOR: 1.61, 95% CI: 1.21-2.13, p=0.001). Among primary school students, significant associations were found between overweight and >2 hours of gaming during weekdays (aOR: 1.64, 95% CI: 1.07-2.51, p=0.024) and not having breakfast on a daily basis (aOR: 2.00, 95% CI: 1.32-3.03, p=0.001). In the secondary school group, a higher risk of being overweight was associated with poor perceived academic performance (aOR:1.51, 95% CI: 1.10-2.08, p=0.011), higher life satisfaction (family) (aOR: 1.13, 95% CI: 1.01-1.26, p=0.032), and higher consumption of processed or preserved meat (aOR: 1.49, 95% CI: 1.06-2.11, p=0.023). Besides, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was associated with a lower risk of being overweight (1-4 days: aOR: 0.74, 95% CI: 0.55-0.99, p=0.043; 5-7 days: aOR: 0.52, 95% CI: 0.33-0.83, p=0.006).

Conclusions There was a substantial prevalence of overweight among school children. A healthy lifestyle should be promoted to students and parents, such as having regular physical activity, consuming healthy food, and eating breakfast regularly.