Socio-economic environment, area facilities and obesity and physical inactivity among children

Background: To evaluate whether the relationship between socio-economic environment and obesity and physical inactivity in children can be explained by household socio-economic position and area facilities. Methods: Two indicators of the socio-economic context of neighbourhood of residence based on wealth and deprivation were estimated in a sample of 727 children and adolescents residents in Madrid (Spain). Multilevel logit models were used to calculate the relationship between each indicator and obesity and physical inactivity. Results: After adjusting for household socio-economic position, obesity prevalence was 3.79 times higher among subjects living in deprived areas than among those living in non-deprived areas (CI: 1.95-7.34), and 2.38 higher among subjects living in less wealthy areas than in those living in wealthier areas (CI: 0.85-6.65). Adjustment for the availability of retail shops in subjects' neighbourhood of residence failed to change the magnitude of the association. Neither neighbourhood socio-economic context nor availability of sports facilities was related to physical inactivity. Conclusion: In the city of Madrid, socio-economic context of neighbourhood of residence shows an inverse relationship with obesity but not with physical inactivity among children. The relationship observed with obesity is not explained by the availability of area facilities.