Health behaviours associated with healthy body composition among Aboriginal adolescents in Australia in the 'Next Generation: Youth Well-being study'

Christopher D McKay; Lina Gubhaju; Alison J Gibberd; Bridgette J McNamara; Rona Macniven; Grace Joshy; Robert Roseby; Robyn Williams; Aryati Yashadhana; Ted Fields; Bobby Porykali; Peter Azzopardi; Emily Banks; Sandra J Eades

doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2023.107715

Health behaviours associated with healthy body composition among Aboriginal adolescents in Australia in the 'Next Generation: Youth Well-being study'

Prev Med. 2023 Oct:175:107715. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2023.107715. Epub 2023 Sep 27.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Electronic address: cdmckay@student.unimelb.edu.au.
² Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
³ School of Population Health, UNSW, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁴ Centre for Public Health Data and Policy, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, College of Health & Medicine, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
⁵ Department of Respiratory Medicine, Monash Children's Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Department of Paediatrics, School of Clinical Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
⁶ Curtin Medical School, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia.
⁷ School of Population Health, UNSW, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Centre for Primary Health Care & Equity, UNSW, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁸ Guunu-maana (Heal) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Program, The George Institute for Global Heath, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁹ Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Telethon Kids Institute, Perth, WA, Australia.

PMID: 37775084
DOI: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2023.107715

Abstract

This study described the distribution of healthy body composition among Aboriginal adolescents in Australia aged 10-24 years and examined associations with health behaviours and self-rated health. Data were cross-sectional from the 'Next Generation: Youth Well-being study' baseline (N = 1294). We used robust Poisson regression to quantify associations of self-reported health behaviours (physical activity, screen time, sleep, consumption of vegetables, fruit, soft drinks and fast food, and tobacco smoking and alcohol) and self-rated health to healthy body mass index (BMI) and waist/height ratio (WHtR). Overall, 48% of participants had healthy BMI and 64% healthy WHtR, with healthy body composition more common among younger adolescents. Higher physical activity was associated with healthy body composition (5-7 days last week vs none; adjusted prevalence ratio (aPR) healthy BMI 1.31 [95% CI 1.05-1.64], and healthy WHtR 1.30 [1.10-1.54]), as was recommended sleep duration (vs not; aPR healthy BMI 1.56 [1.19-2.05], and healthy WHtR 1.37 [1.13-1.67]). There was a trend for higher proportion of healthy body composition with more frequent fast food consumption. Healthy body composition was also associated with higher self-rated health ('very good/excellent' vs 'poor/fair'; aPR healthy BMI 1.87 [1.45-2.42], and healthy WHtR 1.71 [1.40-2.10]). Culturally appropriate community health interventions with a focus on physical activity and sleep may hold promise for improving body composition among Aboriginal adolescents.

Keywords: Adolescent Health; Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples; Body composition; Health behavior; Obesity.