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=Volume 68 - 2023

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=Objectives
To examine associations between parents’ socioeconomic position (SEP) and child overweight and obesity, using registry data.
Methods
Data (final n=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 (RROW) and obesity (RROB) according to SEP were estimated using generalized linear models and using a log -link. 
Results 
The risk for obesity was lower in boys from high-income families (RROB 0.76), for overweight and obesity was lower in boys (RROW 0.72, RROB 0.58 ) and girls (RROW 0.72, RROB 0.54) with highly educated fathers, in boys (RROW 0.79, RROB 0.58) and girls (RROW 0.78, RROB 0.56) with high-educated mothers and in boys (RROW 0.85, RROB 0.77) and girls (RROW 0.80, RROB 0.69) living in urban areas, as compared to low-income families, low-educated parents, and rural residence, respectively.
Conclusions
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.