Prevalence of childhood obesity in Spain and its relation with socioeconomic status and health behaviors: Population-based cross-sectional study

Vicente Bertomeu-Gonzalez; Francisco Sanchez-Ferrer; Jose Antonio Quesada; Ana Pilar Nso-Roca; Adriana Lopez-Pineda; Juan Miguel Ruiz-Nodar

doi:10.1016/j.medcli.2024.02.016

Prevalence of childhood obesity in Spain and its relation with socioeconomic status and health behaviors: Population-based cross-sectional study

Med Clin (Barc). 2024 May 6:S0025-7753(24)00199-4. doi: 10.1016/j.medcli.2024.02.016. Online ahead of print.

[Article in English, Spanish]

Authors

Vicente Bertomeu-Gonzalez¹, Francisco Sanchez-Ferrer², Jose Antonio Quesada³, Ana Pilar Nso-Roca³, Adriana Lopez-Pineda³, Juan Miguel Ruiz-Nodar⁴

Affiliations

¹ GRINCAVA Research Group, Clinical Medicine Department, Miguel Hernandez University, San Juan de Alicante, Alicante, Spain; Cardiology Section, University Hospital of San Juan de Alicante, San Juan de Alicante, Alicante, Spain; Center for Biomedical Research Network Cardiovascular Diseases (CIBERCV), Spain.
² GRINCAVA Research Group, Clinical Medicine Department, Miguel Hernandez University, San Juan de Alicante, Alicante, Spain; Pharmacology, Pediatrics and Organic Chemistry Department, Miguel Hernandez University, San Juan de Alicante, Alicante, Spain. Electronic address: f.sanchez@umh.es.
³ GRINCAVA Research Group, Clinical Medicine Department, Miguel Hernandez University, San Juan de Alicante, Alicante, Spain.
⁴ GRINCAVA Research Group, Clinical Medicine Department, Miguel Hernandez University, San Juan de Alicante, Alicante, Spain; Center for Biomedical Research Network Cardiovascular Diseases (CIBERCV), Spain; Cardiology Service, General University Hospital of Alicante, Alicante, Spain.

PMID: 38714468
DOI: 10.1016/j.medcli.2024.02.016

Abstract

Objectives: This study aims to assess the current state of childhood overweight and obesity in Spain, and its relationship with socioeconomic status and health-related behaviors.

Methods: Population-based cross-sectional observational study, based on the 2017 National Health Survey in minors in Spain. This study included all children surveyed who were aged 1-14 years. Childhood obesity was estimated from the z-score of the body mass index.

Results: The study included 4882 children aged 1-14 years (mean 7.5). The prevalence of obesity was 18.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 18.5-18.7), while 13.5% (95% CI 13.4-13.6) were overweight. These figures represent over a million children in Spain who are obese and nearly 750,000 who are overweight. A north-south geographic gradient was apparent, with higher prevalence of unhealthy body weight in southern Spain. Factors associated with childhood obesity were low socioeconomic status, poor diet and sedentarism, among others.

Conclusions: Childhood overweight in Spain is strongly associated with socioeconomic status and other factors such as diet and sedentarism. Multidisciplinary public health interventions are needed to reduce this serious health problem in children.

Keywords: Diet habits; Factores socioeconómicos; Hábitos dietéticos; Obesidad pediátrica; Overweight; Pediatric obesity; Pediatrics; Pediatría; Sobrepeso; Socioeconomic factors.