Document Type
Article
Disciplines
1.6 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Abstract
Background: Overweight and obesity in adolescence is a growing issue and can have a range of both short- and long-term consequences on health.
Objectives: To analyse trends in adolescent weight status in Ireland across a 30-year period and to examine the influence of sociodemographic factors on overweight/obesity in Irish adolescents over time.
Methods: Body composition and body mass index weight status of Irish adolescents were compared using data from three nationally representative, cross-sectional Irish national food consumption surveys from 1990, 2006 and 2020. Adjusted analysis of associations between socio-demographic factors with the risk of adolescent overweight/obesity at each time point were examined.
Results: The prevalence of Irish adolescents with overweight/obesity has increased significantly in recent years, with 24% of adolescents living with overweight/obesity in 2020 compared to 18% in 2006 and 13% in 1990 (p < 0.001). Of note is a substantial increase in the prevalence of obesity, with 8% of adolescents living with obesity in 2020 compared to 3% in 2006 and 0.5% in 1990 (p < 0.001). A lower affluence social class was associated with 3.95 increased odds of adolescent overweight/obesity (95%CI 2.06-7.61) (p < 0.001) in 2020 only, with 41% of adolescents from the lowest affluence social class affected by overweight/obesity. Parental education level was inversely associated with the risk of adolescent overweight/obesity in 2006 and 2020, with a stronger effect in 2020.
Conclusion: There is an increasing prevalence of adolescents living with overweight/obesity in Ireland, with evidence of a growing socioeconomic gradient of overweight/obesity where adolescents affected by socioeconomic disadvantage are most at risk.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/ijpo.12988. Epub 2022 Oct 26.
Recommended Citation
Moore Heslin, Aoibhín; O'Donnell, Aisling; Kehoe, Laura; Walton, Janette; Flynn, Albert; Kearney, John; and McNulty, Breige, "Adolescent Overweight and Obesity in Ireland—Trends and Sociodemographic Associations Between 1990 and 2020" (2023). Articles. 352.
https://arrow.tudublin.ie/scschbioart/352
Funder
Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Ireland
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International License.
Publication Details
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36287113/
doi: 10.1111/ijpo.12988. Epub 2022 Oct 26.