Children's lifestyles and health-related behaviors in the city of Cologne

Abstract

Growing up in a healthy way no longer seems to be a matter of course. Particularly, the prevalence of overweight and obesity in childhood has reached an alarming dimension. The research project entitled "Children Today - Couch Potatoes, Fast Food Junkies, Media Freaks? - A Lifestyle Analysis" examines overweight and obesity as well as physical activity, nutritional behavior and media consumption of children. The present article examines some aspects of health-related lifestyles and analysis context effects of the social environments of 10-year old children in Cologne. The results confirm the relationship between parental socio-economic status and overweight and health-related behavior of the children. Multivariate models of regression also show a stronger risk for developing an unhealthy lifestyle for children living in disadvantaged social environments. This result is independent of the individual socio-economic status and underlines the importance for preventative measures to consider the "obesogenic environment".