Growing up in Australia: paradox of overweight/obesity in children of immigrants from low-and-middle -income countries.
Obes Sci Pract 2018;
4:178-187. [PMID:
29670755 PMCID:
PMC5893467 DOI:
10.1002/osp4.160]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2017] [Revised: 01/21/2018] [Accepted: 01/23/2018] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Objective
Children of immigrants from low-and-middle-income countries show excess overweight/obesity risk relative to host populations, possibly due to socioeconomic disadvantage. The present study was conducted to estimate overweight/obesity prevalence and its association with the family socioeconomic-position in 2-11-year-old Australian-born children of immigrants and Australian-mothers.
Methods
A cross-sectional analysis of 10-year data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children was undertaken. Overweight/obesity was defined according to the International Obesity Taskforce, age-and sex-specific BMI cut-off-points.
Results
Approximately 24% children aged 2-3 years (22% sons, and 25% daughters), were overweight/obese with no significant difference between children of immigrants and Australian-mothers. Overweight/obesity prevalence consistently increased with age for sons of mothers from low-and-middle-income countries but not daughters. Adjusting for the family socioeconomic-position did not explain excess overweight/obesity in children of mothers from low-and-middle-income countries. The odds of overweight/obesity in sons were significantly higher at 8-9 years (OR 1.5; p = 0.03) and 10-11 years (OR 1.5; p = 0.03) and in daughters at 4-5 years (OR 1.7; p = 0.002) when the mothers were from low-and-middle-income countries.
Conclusion
Excess weight in children of immigrants is not due to socioeconomic disadvantage alone. Other social processes and interactions between immigrants and host cultures may be involved.
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