Association of socioeconomic gradients with obesity in children

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine the influence of socioeconomic status on the body mass index (BMI) of primary school children. A cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample of 280 children aged 6 to 11 years allocated to three groups based on BMI: underweight, ideal weight and overweight/obesity. Socioeconomic status was determined based on the responses of parents/caregivers to a specific form. Data analysis involved the employment of the Kruskal–Wallis, Mann–Whitney U and chi-square tests as well as simple and multiple linear regression analyses. In the final multiple regression model, BMI was influenced by monthly household income (coef=0.223; CI: 1.014 to 1.503). Children from families with a higher monthly income had a higher BMI.