Exploring the effect of socioeconomic development on child growth in posttransitional Croatia: a cross-sectional study
Objectives To determine the relationship between socioeconomic development (SD) of local administrative units (LAU) and the height and body mass index (BMI) of second- and third-grade children in Croatia. Methods We analyzed average height-for-age and BMI-for-age z -scores of 99 LAUs, based on the m...
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Published in | International journal of public health Vol. 65; no. 8; pp. 1299 - 1307 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Cham
Springer International Publishing
01.11.2020
Springer Nature B.V |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Objectives
To determine the relationship between socioeconomic development (SD) of local administrative units (LAU) and the height and body mass index (BMI) of second- and third-grade children in Croatia.
Methods
We analyzed average height-for-age and BMI-for-age
z
-scores of 99 LAUs, based on the measurement of 5662 children participating in the Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative Croatia. SD was defined according to the governmental Development index. Pearson’s correlations between average height and BMI
z
-scores and SD were calculated. We used ANOVA to test differences in average height and BMI
z
-scores among LAUs from different SD quartiles and multiple linear regression to investigate the association between average height-for-age
z
-scores and SD.
Results
Height-for-age was significantly correlated with SD. We found a difference in average height-for-age between the least and more developed LAUs. A multiple linear regression model showed significant association between Development index and the average height-for-age
z
-score (
F
= 13.085,
p
< 0.001,
R
2
= 0.119).
Conclusions
This finding is important for creators of policies worldwide as socioeconomic inequalities in children’s height may exist in other countries that, like Croatia, have recently gone through the transition process. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 1661-8556 1661-8564 |
DOI: | 10.1007/s00038-020-01424-0 |