Association of poverty and social exclusion with body mass index among Special Olympics athletes in Europe

Pauli Rintala (), Viviene A. Temple, Meghann Lloyd, Chris Faro and John T. Foley
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Pauli Rintala: University of Jyväskylä
Viviene A. Temple: University of Victoria
Meghann Lloyd: University of Ontario Institute of Technology
Chris Faro: State University of New York College at Cortland
John T. Foley: State University of New York College at Cortland

International Journal of Public Health, 2017, vol. 62, issue 8, No 10, 928 pages

Abstract: Abstract Objectives To examine the association of a risk of poverty and social exclusion (AROPE), age, and gender with the body mass index (BMI) status of European Special Olympics athletes. Methods BMI records were available for 1905 children and youth and 5517 adults from the Special Olympics International (SOI) Health Promotion database. AROPE was extracted from EU Eurostat statistics. Logistic regression analyses were used to predict BMI status. Results For children/youth and adults, respectively, 9.4 and 6.3% were underweight and 25.3 and 44.6% were overweight/obese. Being underweight was significantly associated with higher AROPE rates. Being female and lower AROPE rates were significantly associated with overweight/obesity for both children/youth (OR 1.27; 95% CI 1.07–1.50 and OR 0.97; 95% CI 0.96–0.98) and adults (OR 1.55; 95% CI 1.39–1.72 and OR 0.96; 95% CI 0.95–0.98). Conclusions The Europe 2020 “platform against poverty” strategy aims to ensure that those experiencing poverty and social exclusion share the benefits of economic growth. These findings suggest that SOI health promotion efforts to foster healthy BMI are needed and should be tailored to specific social and economic circumstances in Europe.

Keywords: Intellectual disability; Underweight; Overweight; Special Olympics; Body mass index; Poverty and social exclusion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1007/s00038-017-0982-5

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