Socio-cultural determinants of adiposity and physical activity in preschool children: A cross-sectional study

BMC Public Health

Research Article

Urs Granacher¹  Ursina Meyer¹  Flavia Bürgi¹  Iris Niederer¹  Pedro Marques-Vidal²  Vincent Ebenegger³  Jardena J Puder⁴  Susi Kriemler⁵ 

[1] Institute of Exercise and Health Sciences, University of Basel, Birsstrasse 320B, 4052, Basel, Switzerland;Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois and Faculty of biology and medicine, University of Lausanne, Rue de Bugnon 17, 1005, Lausanne, Switzerland;Institute of Sports Sciences and Physical Education, University of Lausanne, 1015, Bâtiment de Vidy, Lausanne, Switzerland;Service of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, University of Lausanne, Rue de Bugnon 46, 1011, Lausanne, Switzerland;Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, University of Basel, Socinstrasse 57, 4002, Basel, Switzerland;

关键词: Physical Activity;    Sedentary Behaviour;    Vigorous Physical Activity;    Migrant Status;    Total Physical Activity;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-10-733

 received in 2010-06-21, accepted in 2010-11-26,  发布年份 2010

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundBoth individual socio-cultural determinants such as selected parental characteristics (migrant background, low educational level and workload) as well as the regional environment are related to childhood overweight and physical activity (PA). The purpose of the study was to compare the impact of distinct socio-cultural determinants such as the regional environment and selected parental characteristics on adiposity, PA and motor skills in preschool children.MethodsForty preschools (N = 542 children) of two culturally different urban regions (German and French speaking part of Switzerland) participated in the study (Ballabeina Study). Outcome measures included adiposity (BMI and skinfold thickness), objectively measured sedentary activities and PA (accelerometers) and agility performance (obstacle course). Parental characteristics (migrant status, educational level and workload) were assessed by questionnaire.ResultsChildren from the French speaking areas had higher adiposity, lower levels of total and of more intense PA, were more sedentary and less agile than children from the German speaking regions (percent differences for all outcome parameters except for BMI ≥10%; all p ≤ 0.04). Differences in skinfold thickness, sedentary activities and agility, but not in PA, were also found between children of Swiss and migrant parents, though they were ≤8% (p ≤ 0.02). While paternal workload had no effect, maternal workload and parental education resulted in differences in some PA measures and/or agility performance (percent differences in both: ≤9%, p ≤ 0.008), but not in adiposity or sedentary activities (p = NS). Regional differences in skinfold thickness, PA, sedentary activities and agility performance persisted after adjustment for parental socio-cultural characteristics, parental BMI and, where applicable, children's skinfolds (all p ≤ 0.01).ConclusionsThe regional environment, especially the broader social environment, plays a prominent role in determining adiposity, PA and motor skills of young children and should be implicated in the prevention of obesity and promotion of PA in children.Trial Registrationclinicaltrials.gov NCT00674544

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Bürgi et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2010. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.