Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PEDIATRIC OBESITY
Volume 3, Issue 4, Pages 205-211Publisher
TAYLOR & FRANCIS INC
DOI: 10.1080/17477160802158477
Keywords
Canada; adolescents; obesity; overweight; physical activity; rural
Categories
Funding
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research [2004MOP-CHI-128223-C]
- Public Health Agency of Canada [HT089-05205/001/SS]
- Canadian version of the World Health Organization-Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children Survey (WHO-HBSC)
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research
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Objective. Few studies have examined variations in overweight and obesity by geographic location in youth. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between urban/rural geographic status and being overweight or obese among Canadian adolescents. Methods. The study involved an analysis of a representative sample of 4851 Canadian adolescents in grades 6 to 10 from the 2001-02 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children Survey. Self-reports of participants' demographics, physical activity, screen time, diet, and body mass index (BMI) were assessed. Adiposity status was determined using the international BMI thresholds for children and youth. Urban/rural status was coded on a five-point scale based on the geographic location of the participants' schools. Logistic regression with generalized estimating equations to adjust for clustering was used to examine the association between urban/rural status and overweight/obesity. Results. The population was 53.3% female with a mean age of 13.9 years (standard deviation, SD=1.5). Approximately 22.2% were living in rural areas while 14.4% were living in large metropolitan (metro) areas. After adjusting for age, sex, socioeconomic status, and Region of Canada, there was a trend for increasing overweight (p=0.001) and obesity (p=0.03) among adolescents as the level of rurality increased (relative odds for most urban to most rural regions for overweight or obese: 1.00, 0.98, 1.18, 1.57, 1.36; obesity: 1.00, 1.06, 1.39, 1.58, 1.56). Conclusion. This study provides new information about patterns of overweight/obesity among Canadian adolescents by urban-rural geographic status. These findings suggest that obesity prevention interventions should be particularly aggressive in rural areas.
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