Gender, type of education, family background and overweight in adolescents

Abstract

Objective. To examine gender-specific socio-educational correlations of overweight in adolescents enrolled in post-mandatory education. Subjects and methods. Data were drawn from the Swiss Multicenter Adolescent Survey on Health, a cross-sectional study conducted on a representative sample of 3439 females and 4109 males aged 16 to 20 and enrolled in either vocational education (apprentices) or full time school (students). Adolescents reporting a body mass index (BMI) > 85^th percentile for age and gender were compared with those reporting a BMI around the median (25^th–75^th percentile). Results. Multivariate logistic regression showed that apprentices of both genders were more likely to report a BMI ≥ 85^th percentile than students: odds ratio (OR) in females 1.49 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.11, 1.99), OR in males 1.61 (95%CI 1.19, 2.19). In females, but not in males, reported BMI was associated with parental education level (father with baccalaureate or university degree, OR = 1.00; father with vocational proficiency certificate, OR = 1.48 [95% CI 1.06, 2.07] and father without post-mandatory education, OR = 3.44 [95% CI 2.20, 5.38]). Conclusions. The observed differences in the correlation of parents’ and adolescents’ own educational status with overweight suggest that parental and adolescents’ own education represent distinct risk factors for overweight. Apprentices’ higher risk of being overweight might be of particular interest for prevention, as they represent a large number of adolescents, who enter the adult workforce at a young age. Overall, socio-educational characteristics explained only a small fraction of the variance in overweight, particularly in males.

• Adolescent
• body mass index
• cultural background
• educational status
• gender
• living environment
• overweight
• obesity
• Switzerland
• vocational education

The survey was carried out with the financial support of the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (contract 000.001721/2.24.02-81) and participating cantons. It was conducted by a multidisciplinary team from the Institute for Social & Preventive Medicine, University of Lausanne*, the Institute of Psychology, University of Bern**, and the Sezione Sanitaria, Dipartimento della sanità e della socialità, Canton Ticino***: V. Addor*, F.D. Alsaker**, A. Bütikofer**, C. Diserens*, L. Inderwildi Bonivento***, A. Jeannin*, G. van Melle*, P.A. Michaud*, F. Narring*, J.C. Suris*, A. Tschumper**.