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Observing the neighborhood multidimensionality and overweight in children of different developmental stages—the emergence of an unusual association

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Abstract

The present study examines whether the association of the neighborhood environment and overweight in children is moderated by age. This was a cross-sectional study of 832 children aged 3 to 10 years living in the city of Oporto (Portugal). Children were recruited under the scope of the project “Inequalities in Childhood Obesity: The impact of the socioeconomic crisis in Portugal from 2009 to 2015.” Overweight was defined according to the International Obesity Task Force criteria. Parents completed a self-administered questionnaire capturing sociodemographic characteristics and their perceptions of their neighborhood environment. Logistic regressions were used to examine the influence of parental perceived neighborhood characteristics (latent variables: attractiveness, traffic safety, crime safety, and walkability) on overweight in children. A stratified analysis by age category was conducted. Overall, 27.8% of the children were overweight, 17.4% were aged 3 to 5 years, and 31.8% were aged 6 to 10 years. Children aged 3 to 5 years were more sensitive to the neighborhood environment than children aged 6 to 10 years. For children aged 3 to 5 years, the risk of overweight was inversely associated with neighborhood crime safety (OR = 1.84; 95% CI 1.07–3.15; p = 0.030).

    Conclusion: Our study suggests the existence of a sensitive age period in childhood at which exposure to a hostile neighborhood environment is most determining for weight gain. Until today, it was thought that the impact of the neighborhood environment on younger children would be less important as they are less autonomous. But it may not be true.

What is Known:

• The neighborhood environment may adversely affect children’s weight status. However, the moderating role of child age in the association between neighborhood environment and overweight is uncertain.

What is New:

• The study highlights that the association between the neighborhood environment and child overweight is attenuated by age. It is stronger for preschoolers than for early school-age children.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/ or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

OR:

Odds ratio

CI:

Confidence interval

Ref:

Reference

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Acknowledgements

The authors would particularly like to thank all the Directors of schools who agreed to participate in this project, the teachers directly involved, and the parent and legal guardians who authorized the anthropometric measures and questionnaires.

Funding

This work was supported by a grant (reference: PTDC/DTP-SAP/1520/2014) from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Portugal.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CIAS – Research Centre for Anthropology and Health, University of Coimbra, Calçada Martim de Freitas, 3000-456, Coimbra, Portugal

    Ana C. Lourenço, Helena G. Nogueira, Daniela Rodrigues, Augusta Gama, Aristides M. Machado-Rodrigues & Cristina Padez

  2. Department of Geography and Tourism, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Helena G. Nogueira

  3. Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Daniela Rodrigues & Cristina Padez

  4. Department of Animal Biology, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

    Augusta Gama

  5. Faculty of Sport Sciences and Physical Education, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Aristides M. Machado-Rodrigues

  6. Faculty of Health Sciences and FP – I3ID, University Fernando Pessoa, Oporto, Portugal

    Maria Raquel G. Silva

  7. CHRC – Comprehensive Health Research Centre Group of Sleep, Chronobiology and Sleep Disorders, Nova University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

    Maria Raquel G. Silva

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  1. Ana C. Lourenço
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Contributions

All the authors contributed to the conception and design of the study. Data collection was performed by D.R., A.G., M.R.G.S., A.M.M.R., and C.P. Data analysis was carried out by A.C.L. The first draft of the manuscript was written by A.C.L., and H.G.N. commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ana C. Lourenço.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval

The study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was granted by the Portuguese Ministry of Education (registration number 0565500003) and the Portuguese Data Protection Authority (authorization number 745/2017).

Consent to participate

Written informed consent was obtained from parents or legal guardians of all children.

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Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Communicated by Peter de Winter

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Lourenço, A.C., Nogueira, H.G., Rodrigues, D. et al. Observing the neighborhood multidimensionality and overweight in children of different developmental stages—the emergence of an unusual association. Eur J Pediatr 183, 611–618 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-023-05326-0

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