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Diet quality and physical activity in relation to childhood obesity

  • Ruopeng An EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: August 15, 2015
International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health
From the journal International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health Volume 29 Issue 2

Abstract

Objective:

Healthy lifestyles such as being physically active and eating a healthy diet help reduce the childhood obesity risk. However, population-level studies on the relationship between lifestyles and childhood obesity typically focus on either physical activity or diet but seldom both. This study examined physical activity and diet quality in relation to obesity in a nationally representative sample of U.S. children and adolescents.

Methods:

The study sample of 2818 children 6–17 years old came from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2003–2006 waves. A healthy eating index (HEI)-2010 was constructed based on two nonconsecutive 24-h dietary recalls. Participants at or above the 60th percentile of the HEI-2010 score were classified as consuming a healthy diet. Participants engaging in at least 60 min of moderate-vigorous physical activity daily measured by accelerometer were classified as being physically active. Adjusted average marginal effect of diet quality and physical activity on obesity was calculated based on estimates from logistic regressions.

Results:

Compared with those consuming a healthy diet who are physically active, the estimated probabilities for overweight and obesity were 19.03 (95% confidence interval: 11.31, 26.74) and 15.84 (10.48, 21.21) percentage points higher among children consuming an unhealthy diet and who are physically inactive, 16.53 (7.58, 25.48) and 13.48 (5.68, 21.29) percentage points higher among children consuming a healthy diet but who are physically inactive and 3.22 (−3.43, 9.88) and 3.10 (−3.08, 9.29) percentage points higher among children consuming an unhealthy diet but physically active, respectively.

Conclusion:

Healthy habit formation at an early age is essential in obesity prevention.

Keywords: childhood obesity; diet; physical activity
Corresponding author: Ruopeng An, 1206 South 4th Street, Champaign, IL 61820, USA, Phone: +1-217-244-0966, Fax: +1-217-333-2766, E-mail: ; and Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, College of Applied Health Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA

  1. Conflict of interest statement

  2. Competing interests: None.

  3. Funding: None.

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Received: 2015-5-12
Accepted: 2015-7-10
Published Online: 2015-8-15
Published in Print: 2017-4-1

©2015 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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https://doi.org/10.1515/ijamh-2015-0045
Keywords for this article
childhood obesity; diet; physical activity

Articles in the same Issue

  1. The first cigarette and then………
  2. Postnatal testosterone may be an important mediator of the association between prematurity and male neurodevelopmental disorders: a hypothesis
  3. Dietary habits and sedentary behaviors among health science university students in Bahrain
  4. Diet quality and physical activity in relation to childhood obesity
  5. Determinants of cigarette smoking among school adolescents on the island of Java, Indonesia
  6. Oral health impact, dental caries experience, and associated factors in 12–15-year-old school children in India
  7. The effects of educating mothers and girls on the girls’ attitudes toward puberty health: a randomized controlled trial
  8. Challenges and results of a school-based intervention to manage excess weight among school children in Tunisia 2012–2014
  9. The effectiveness of an adolescent reproductive health education intervention in Uganda
  10. Comparison of parental socio-demographic factors in children and adolescents presenting with internalizing and externalizing disorders
  11. Health seeking behaviour and health awareness among rural and urban adolescents in Dehradun District, Uttarakhand, India
  12. Knowledge and perception of young adults in Nigeria on effectiveness of condom use in prevention of sexually transmitted infections
  13. Media exposure, interactive health literacy, and adolescents’ susceptibility to future smoking
  14. Disordered eating and body image issues and their associated factors among adolescents in urban secondary schools in Sarawak, Malaysia
  15. Normal weight obesity among young adults in Trinidad and Tobago: prevalence and associated factors
  16. Prevalence and correlates of suicidal ideation and attempts among children and adolescents
  17. Neurogenic speech sequelae following suicide attempt by hanging: a case report
  18. Tubo-ovarian abscess in non sexually active adolescents
  19. Implicit emotion regulation: linking childhood oppositional defiant disorder with adult depression and bipolar disorder?
  20. Knowledge, attitude, self-efficacy and estimation of frequency of condom use among Iranian students based on a crosswise model: more explanation is needed for the crosswise model
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