Higher Household Income and the Availability of Electronic Devices and Transport at Home Are Associated with Higher Waist Circumference in Colombian Children: The ACFIES Study

Diego Gómez-Arbeláez, Paul A. Camacho, Daniel D. Cohen, Katherine Rincón-Romero, Laura Alvarado-Jurado, Sandra Pinzón, John Duperly and Patricio López-Jaramillo
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Diego Gómez-Arbeláez: Dirección de Investigaciones, Fundación Oftalmológica de Santander—FOSCAL, Calle 155 A # 29–13, Torre Milton Salazar, Primer Piso, Floridablanca, Colombia
Paul A. Camacho: Dirección de Investigaciones, Fundación Oftalmológica de Santander—FOSCAL, Calle 155 A # 29–13, Torre Milton Salazar, Primer Piso, Floridablanca, Colombia
Daniel D. Cohen: Dirección de Investigaciones, Fundación Oftalmológica de Santander—FOSCAL, Calle 155 A # 29–13, Torre Milton Salazar, Primer Piso, Floridablanca, Colombia
Katherine Rincón-Romero: Dirección de Investigaciones, Fundación Oftalmológica de Santander—FOSCAL, Calle 155 A # 29–13, Torre Milton Salazar, Primer Piso, Floridablanca, Colombia
Laura Alvarado-Jurado: Dirección de Investigaciones, Fundación Oftalmológica de Santander—FOSCAL, Calle 155 A # 29–13, Torre Milton Salazar, Primer Piso, Floridablanca, Colombia
Sandra Pinzón: Facultad de Salud, Universidad de Santander—UDES, Bucaramanga, Colombia
John Duperly: Escuela de Medicina, Universidad de los Andes, Bogota, Colombia
Patricio López-Jaramillo: Dirección de Investigaciones, Fundación Oftalmológica de Santander—FOSCAL, Calle 155 A # 29–13, Torre Milton Salazar, Primer Piso, Floridablanca, Colombia

IJERPH, 2014, vol. 11, issue 2, 1-10

Abstract: Background : The current “epidemic” of childhood obesity is described as being driven by modern lifestyles with associated socioeconomic and environmental changes that modify dietary habits, discourage physical activity and encourage sedentary behaviors. Objective : To evaluate the association between household income and the availability of electronic devices and transport at home, and the values of waist circumference (WC), as an indicator of abdominal obesity, in children and adolescents from Bucaramanga, Colombia. Methods : Cross-sectional study of public elementary and high school population, of low-middle socioeconomic status. Results : A total of 668 schoolchildren were recruited. After adjusting for potential confounders, significant positive associations between waist circumference and higher household income ( p = 0.011), and waist circumference and the availability of electronic devices and transport at home ( p = 0.026) were found. Conclusions : In low-middle socioeconomic status schoolchildren in a developing country, those from relatively more affluent families had greater waist circumference, an association that is opposite to that observed in developed countries. This finding could be related to higher income family’s ability to purchase electronic devices and motorized transport which discourage physical activity and for their children to buy desirable and more costly western fast food.

Keywords: childhood obesity; abdominal obesity; waist circumference; electronic devices; household income; socioeconomic status; Colombia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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