title: Adolescent Overweight and Obesity: Links to Socioeconomic Status and Fruit and Vegetable Intakes.
abstract: Whether adolescent overweight/obesity is linked to socioeconomic status (SES) and fruit and vegetable (F/V) intakes has not been confirmed. We aimed to determine whether there is an association between SES and adolescent overweight/obesity and to test the mediating effect of F/V intakes. This cross-sectional study included the data of 63,111 adolescents extracted from the 2013 Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey. Overweight/obesity was defined as a body mass index ≥ 85th percentile, while F/V intakes were categorized as high (recommended levels: ≥ 1 fruit serving and ≥ 3 vegetable servings per day) versus low. Among girls, low SES (beta = 0.50, p < 0.001) and F/V intakes (beta = -0.17, p = 0.038) were both significantly associated with overweight/obesity; the former association was significantly mediated by F/V intakes (Sobel test: z = 2.00, p = 0.046). Among boys, neither SES nor F/V intakes was significantly associated with overweight/obesity. Adolescent overweight/obesity was significantly linked to low SES and F/V intakes among girls only; low SES indirectly increased the risk of overweight/obesity via low F/V intakes. Therefore, promoting F/V intakes for socially disadvantaged girls should be prioritized as a population-based strategy for preventing adolescent overweight/obesity in South Korea.
authors.affiliation: College of Nursing, Korea University, Anam-Dong, Seongbuk-Gu, Seoul 137-705, Korea. jhemin@korea.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Jihyun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: You
authors.affiliation: College of Nursing, Korea University, Anam-Dong, Seongbuk-Gu, Seoul 137-705, Korea. jinachoo@korea.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Jina
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Choo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005638:Fruit; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D050177:Overweight / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D065840:Protective Factors; D056910:Republic of Korea; D012307:Risk Factors; D012923:Social Class; D014675:Vegetables
keywords: adolescent; fruit and vegetable intake; obesity; overweight; social class