The Relationship between Certain Parental/Household Socio-Economic Characteristics and Female Adolescent Obesity in Montenegro

Background: Considering that obesity is characterized today as a public health challenge and an epidemic in many countries in the world and that one of the main predictors for obesity is socio-economic status (SES), the aim of this paper was to assess the relationship between the SES of parents/guar...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Pavle Malovic, Erol Vrevic, Dragan Bacovic, Danilo Bojanic, Milovan Ljubojevic
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-04-01
Series:Children
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/10/5/820
_version_ 1797600653715963904
author Pavle Malovic
Erol Vrevic
Dragan Bacovic
Danilo Bojanic
Milovan Ljubojevic
author_facet Pavle Malovic
Erol Vrevic
Dragan Bacovic
Danilo Bojanic
Milovan Ljubojevic
author_sort Pavle Malovic
collection DOAJ
description Background: Considering that obesity is characterized today as a public health challenge and an epidemic in many countries in the world and that one of the main predictors for obesity is socio-economic status (SES), the aim of this paper was to assess the relationship between the SES of parents/guardians and female adolescent obesity in Montenegro. Methods: A stratified random probability sample method was used, and the number of participants in this study was 596, aged 15.8 ± 0.58, from all three regions in Montenegro. As SES was a factor in this research, specific SES parameters such as household wealth and parental educational level were collected for parent/guardian of each child. The following anthropometric indices were utilized to evaluate nutritional status: body mass index (BMI) and waist to height ratio (WHtR). Results: Regarding nutritional status, it can be said that no statistically significant difference between female adolescents according to the regions of Montenegro was found. Of all the adolescents in the study, 15.4% of them were above the normal nutrition level as measured by BMI, while 12.2% were classified as obese by the WHtR. Furthermore, the study found a significant negative relationship between a mother’s level of education and obesity in female adolescents, with odds ratios of 0.31 (<i>p</i> = 0.035) and 0.19 (<i>p</i> = 0.009) for secondary and high level education, respectively. This suggests that daughters of mothers with higher levels of education are less likely to be obese. Conclusions: In regard to the nutritional status of the respondents in this study, their values fell within the normal range compared to the European average. However, the results regarding the relationship between certain SES characteristics and obesity suggest a similarity to developed countries.
first_indexed 2024-03-11T03:50:53Z
format Article
id doaj.art-877fed060abd4dccba4fb0e3447a3a09
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2227-9067
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-11T03:50:53Z
publishDate 2023-04-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Children
spelling doaj.art-877fed060abd4dccba4fb0e3447a3a092023-11-18T00:55:23ZengMDPI AGChildren2227-90672023-04-0110582010.3390/children10050820The Relationship between Certain Parental/Household Socio-Economic Characteristics and Female Adolescent Obesity in MontenegroPavle Malovic0Erol Vrevic1Dragan Bacovic2Danilo Bojanic3Milovan Ljubojevic4Faculty for Sport and Physical Education, University of Montenegro, 81400 Niksic, MontenegroFaculty for Sport and Physical Education, University of Montenegro, 81400 Niksic, MontenegroFaculty for Sport and Physical Education, University of Montenegro, 81400 Niksic, MontenegroFaculty for Sport and Physical Education, University of Montenegro, 81400 Niksic, MontenegroFaculty for Sport and Physical Education, University of Montenegro, 81400 Niksic, MontenegroBackground: Considering that obesity is characterized today as a public health challenge and an epidemic in many countries in the world and that one of the main predictors for obesity is socio-economic status (SES), the aim of this paper was to assess the relationship between the SES of parents/guardians and female adolescent obesity in Montenegro. Methods: A stratified random probability sample method was used, and the number of participants in this study was 596, aged 15.8 ± 0.58, from all three regions in Montenegro. As SES was a factor in this research, specific SES parameters such as household wealth and parental educational level were collected for parent/guardian of each child. The following anthropometric indices were utilized to evaluate nutritional status: body mass index (BMI) and waist to height ratio (WHtR). Results: Regarding nutritional status, it can be said that no statistically significant difference between female adolescents according to the regions of Montenegro was found. Of all the adolescents in the study, 15.4% of them were above the normal nutrition level as measured by BMI, while 12.2% were classified as obese by the WHtR. Furthermore, the study found a significant negative relationship between a mother’s level of education and obesity in female adolescents, with odds ratios of 0.31 (<i>p</i> = 0.035) and 0.19 (<i>p</i> = 0.009) for secondary and high level education, respectively. This suggests that daughters of mothers with higher levels of education are less likely to be obese. Conclusions: In regard to the nutritional status of the respondents in this study, their values fell within the normal range compared to the European average. However, the results regarding the relationship between certain SES characteristics and obesity suggest a similarity to developed countries.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/10/5/820adolescentsnutrition assessmentobesitysocio-economic statusMontenegro
spellingShingle Pavle Malovic
Erol Vrevic
Dragan Bacovic
Danilo Bojanic
Milovan Ljubojevic
The Relationship between Certain Parental/Household Socio-Economic Characteristics and Female Adolescent Obesity in Montenegro
Children
adolescents
nutrition assessment
obesity
socio-economic status
Montenegro
title The Relationship between Certain Parental/Household Socio-Economic Characteristics and Female Adolescent Obesity in Montenegro
title_full The Relationship between Certain Parental/Household Socio-Economic Characteristics and Female Adolescent Obesity in Montenegro
title_fullStr The Relationship between Certain Parental/Household Socio-Economic Characteristics and Female Adolescent Obesity in Montenegro
title_full_unstemmed The Relationship between Certain Parental/Household Socio-Economic Characteristics and Female Adolescent Obesity in Montenegro
title_short The Relationship between Certain Parental/Household Socio-Economic Characteristics and Female Adolescent Obesity in Montenegro
title_sort relationship between certain parental household socio economic characteristics and female adolescent obesity in montenegro
topic adolescents
nutrition assessment
obesity
socio-economic status
Montenegro
url https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/10/5/820
work_keys_str_mv AT pavlemalovic therelationshipbetweencertainparentalhouseholdsocioeconomiccharacteristicsandfemaleadolescentobesityinmontenegro
AT erolvrevic therelationshipbetweencertainparentalhouseholdsocioeconomiccharacteristicsandfemaleadolescentobesityinmontenegro
AT draganbacovic therelationshipbetweencertainparentalhouseholdsocioeconomiccharacteristicsandfemaleadolescentobesityinmontenegro
AT danilobojanic therelationshipbetweencertainparentalhouseholdsocioeconomiccharacteristicsandfemaleadolescentobesityinmontenegro
AT milovanljubojevic therelationshipbetweencertainparentalhouseholdsocioeconomiccharacteristicsandfemaleadolescentobesityinmontenegro
AT pavlemalovic relationshipbetweencertainparentalhouseholdsocioeconomiccharacteristicsandfemaleadolescentobesityinmontenegro
AT erolvrevic relationshipbetweencertainparentalhouseholdsocioeconomiccharacteristicsandfemaleadolescentobesityinmontenegro
AT draganbacovic relationshipbetweencertainparentalhouseholdsocioeconomiccharacteristicsandfemaleadolescentobesityinmontenegro
AT danilobojanic relationshipbetweencertainparentalhouseholdsocioeconomiccharacteristicsandfemaleadolescentobesityinmontenegro
AT milovanljubojevic relationshipbetweencertainparentalhouseholdsocioeconomiccharacteristicsandfemaleadolescentobesityinmontenegro