Research on environmental influencing factors of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents in China

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the impact of environmental factors such as latitude, altitude, family socioeconomic status (SES), and level of urbanization on overweight and obesity (ow/ob) in children and adolescents. The participants comprised 26,120 children and adolescents aged 10–18 from 16 provinces in China. Differences in the prevalence of ow/ob under different environmental conditions were evaluated by the chi-square test. The influence of various environmental factors on ow/ob was obtained by logistic regression analysis. We found that (1) the prevalence of ow/ob fell between from 19.2% to 11.9% at 10 years old and from 13.8% to 6% at 18 years old; (2) latitude, family SES, income, and urbanization level are positively correlated with the prevalence of ow/ob; and (3) altitude has a negative correlation with the prevalence of ow/ob. The prevalence of ow/ob decreased with age in children and adolescents aged 10–18, and the risk of ow/ob showed significant differences in latitude, altitude, family SES level, gross domestic product (GDP), and level of urbanization.