title: [Inactivity, obesity and mental health in the Spanish population from 4 to 15 years of age].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  An active lifestyle and a good weight status are two major health determinants from a public health perspective.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the degree of association between physical activity, weight status and the emotional and mental health of Spanish schoolchildren.
  
  
  METHODS
  Mental health status was assessed through the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), also leisure time physical activity and body mass index (BMI) in a total of 6 803 children from 4 to 15 years participating in the Spanish National Health Survey 2006. The degree of association between. these variables was estimated by a multinomial logistic regression analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among sedentary schoolchildren are more common mental health problems (OR 2.10), emotional problems (OR 1.84), conduct problems (OR 1.53), problems with peers (OR 2.35) and social relationship difficulties (OR 1.36). Obesity is associated with poor general mental health (OR 1.58), and obese schoolchildren show more often emotional problems (OR 1.52) and problems with peers (OR 2.43).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In the Spanish schoolchildren, a healthy BMI is associated with increased mental well-being, although an active lifestyle is the best indicator of a good mental health status.
authors.affiliation: Universidad de Extremadura, Spain. erneslacruz@um.es
authors.forename: Arturo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Hernández
authors.forename: Ernesto de la
authors.initials: Ede L
authors.lastname: Cruz-Sánchez
authors.forename: Sebastián
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Feu
authors.forename: Raúl
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Martínez-Santos
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007899:Leisure Activities; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D008603:Mental Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D057185:Sedentary Behavior; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires