Relationship between childhood obesity and socio-economic status among primary school children in Costa Rica

• Published in: Public health nutrition 2021-08, Vol.24 (12), p.3825-3833
• Main Authors: Gamboa-Gamboa, Tatiana, Fantin, Romain, Cordoba, Jeancarlo, Caravaca, Ivannia, Gómez-Duarte, Ingrid
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age; Body Mass Index; Body weight; Censuses; Child; Childhood; Children; Cost analysis; Costa Rica - epidemiology; Cross-Sectional Studies; Data collection; Economic analysis; Economic Status; Economics; Enrollments; Geographical locations; Humans; Indicators; Low income groups; Nutritional status; Nutritional Status and Body Composition; Obesity; Overweight; Overweight - epidemiology; Pediatric Obesity - epidemiology; Population; Prevalence; Public health; Quartiles; Regression models; Research Paper; Rural areas; Schools; Socioeconomic factors; Socioeconomics; Students; Systematic review; Urban areas
• ISSN: 1368-9800; 1475-2727
• DOI: 10.1017/S1368980021002032

This article analyses the relationship between socio-economic status and the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the primary school population in Costa Rica. A National School Weight/Height Census was disseminated across Costa Rica in 2016. The percentage of children who were overweight or obese was calculated by sex, age and socio-economic indicators (type of institution: private, public, mix; type of geographic location: rural, urban and the level of development of the district of residence: quartiles). A mixed-effects multinomial logistic regression model and mixed-effects logistic regression model were used to analyse the association between the prevalence of being overweight or obese and district socio-economic status. The survey was carried out in public and private primary schools across Costa Rica in 2016. In total, 347 366 students from 6 to 12 years were enrolled in public and private primary schools. The prevalence of overweight and obesity among children was 34·0 %. Children in private schools were more likely to be overweight or obese than students in public schools (OR = 1·10 [1·07, 1·13]). Additionally, children were less likely to be overweight or obese if attending a school in a district of the lowest socio-economic quartile compared with the highest socio-economic quartile (OR = 0·79 [0·75, 0·83]) and in a rural area compared with the urban area (OR = 0·92 [0·87, 0·97]). Childhood obesity in Costa Rica continues to be a public health problem. Prevalence of overweight and obesity in children was associated with indicators of higher socio-economic status.