Differences in weight status among Australian children and adolescents from priority populations: a longitudinal study

Thomas Lung; Anagha Killedar; Sarah Taki; Li Ming Wen; Michelle Dickson; Kirsten Howard; Louise Baur; Patrick Kelly; Simone Sherriff; Alison Hayes

doi:10.1038/s41366-024-01471-0

Differences in weight status among Australian children and adolescents from priority populations: a longitudinal study

Int J Obes (Lond). 2024 May;48(5):702-708. doi: 10.1038/s41366-024-01471-0. Epub 2024 Feb 2.

Authors

Thomas Lung^{1

2}, Anagha Killedar³, Sarah Taki^{4

5

6}, Li Ming Wen^{4

5

6}, Michelle Dickson^{4

7}, Kirsten Howard³, Louise Baur^{4

6

8}, Patrick Kelly⁴, Simone Sherriff^{4

7}, Alison Hayes⁴

Affiliations

¹ Sydney School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia. tom.lung@sydney.edu.au.
² The George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia. tom.lung@sydney.edu.au.
³ Menzies Centre for Health Policy and Economics, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁴ Sydney School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁵ Health Promotion Unit, Population Health Research & Evaluation Hub, Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁶ NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in the Early Prevention of Obesity in Childhood (EPOCH), University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
⁷ Poche Centre for Indigenous Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁸ Specialty of Child and Adolescent Health, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Abstract

Background and significance: Australia has a high level of cultural and linguistic diversity, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Children from specific cultural and ethnic groups may be at greater risk of overweight and obesity and may bear the additional risk of socioeconomic disadvantage. Our aim was to identify differences in body-mass index z-score (zBMI) by: (1) Cultural and ethnic groups and; (2) Socioeconomic position (SEP), during childhood and adolescence.

Subjects/methods: We used data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian children (n = 9417) aged 2-19 years with 50870 longitudinal measurements of zBMI. Children were classified into 9 cultural and ethnic groups, based on parent and child's country of birth and language spoken at home. These were: (1) English-speaking countries; (2) Middle East & North Africa; (3) East & South-East Asia; (4) South & Central Asia; (5) Europe; (6) Sub-Saharan Africa; (7) Americas; (8) Oceania. A further group (9) was defined as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander from self-reported demographic information. Longitudinal cohort analyses in which exposures were cultural and ethnic group and family socioeconomic position, and the outcome was zBMI estimated using multilevel mixed linear regression models. We stratified our analyses over three periods of child development: early childhood (2-5 years); middle childhood (6-11 years); and adolescence (12-19 years).

Results: Across all three periods of child development, children from the Middle East and North Africa, the Americas and Oceania were associated with higher zBMI and children from the two Asian groups were associated with lower zBMI, when compared to the referent group (English). zBMI was socioeconomically patterned, with increasingly higher zBMI associated with more socioeconomic disadvantage.

Conclusions: Our findings identified key population groups at higher risk of overweight and obesity in childhood and adolescence. Prevention efforts should prioritize these groups to avoid exacerbating inequalities in healthy weight in childhood.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Australia / epidemiology
Body Mass Index*
Child
Child, Preschool
Female
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander* / statistics & numerical data
Pediatric Obesity* / epidemiology
Socioeconomic Factors*
Young Adult