AUTHOR=Mäki Päivi , Levälahti Esko , Lehtinen-Jacks Susanna , Laatikainen Tiina 

TITLE=Overweight and Obesity in Finnish Children by Parents’ Socioeconomic Position—A Registry-Based Study

JOURNAL=International Journal of Public Health

VOLUME=68

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.ssph-journal.org/journals/international-journal-of-public-health/articles/10.3389/ijph.2023.1605901

DOI=10.3389/ijph.2023.1605901

ISSN=1661-8564

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Objectives:</bold> To examine associations between parents’ socioeconomic position (SEP) and child overweight and obesity, using registry data.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> Data (final <italic>n</italic> = 194,423) on children’s height, weight and parents’ SEP were drawn from the national Register of Primary Health Care Visits (Avohilmo) and Statistics Finland. Risk ratios for bernoulli-distributed overweight (RR<sub>OW</sub>) and obesity (RR<sub>OB</sub>) according to SEP were estimated using generalized linear models and using a log -link.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> The risk for obesity was lower in boys from high-income families (RR<sub>OB</sub> 0.76), for overweight and obesity was lower in boys (RR<sub>OW</sub> 0.72, RR<sub>OB</sub> 0.58) and girls (RR<sub>OW</sub> 0.72, RR<sub>OB</sub> 0.54) with highly educated fathers, in boys (RR<sub>OW</sub> 0.79, RR<sub>OB</sub> 0.58) and girls (RR<sub>OW</sub> 0.78, RR<sub>OB</sub> 0.56) with high-educated mothers and in boys (RR<sub>OW</sub> 0.85, RR<sub>OB</sub> 0.77) and girls (RR<sub>OW</sub> 0.80, RR<sub>OB</sub> 0.69) living in urban areas, as compared to low-income families, low-educated parents, and rural residence, respectively.</p><p><bold>Conclusion:</bold> The risk of overweight and obesity was increased in children with low SEP or rural residence. Administrative registers are a valid approach to monitor childhood obesity by parents’ SEP.</p>