School level correlates with adiposity in 9–10 year old children

Flo Harrison; Graham Bentham; Andrew P. Jones; Aedín Cassidy; Esther M. F. van Sluijs; Simon J. Griffin

doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2011.01.009

School level correlates with adiposity in 9–10 year old children

Flo Harrison, Graham Bentham, Andrew P. Jones, Aedín Cassidy, Esther M. F. van Sluijs, Simon J. Griffin

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We examined the associations between the physical, social, and policy environments of schools and adiposity in 9-10 year old children in Norfolk, UK. The relationships between 56 school-level variables and Fat Mass Index (FMI; fat mass (kg)/height (m2)) were investigated among 1724 well characterised children from 92 schools in this cross-sectional study. After stepwise removal of variables from multilevel linear regression models stratified by gender, only three variables were significantly associated with FMI. Among girls, attending a school with more pupils in the year group was associated with lower FMI, and attending a school with better cycle provision was associated with higher FMI. In boys being allowed to eat any food at break-time was associated with higher FMI. There was some evidence of moderation of the relationship between cycle provision and FMI by urban-rural location. These data suggest that few school factors are associated with FMI, and provide limited pointers to inform potential future school-based interventions to reduce obesity.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	710-716
Number of pages	7
Journal	Health & Place
Volume	17
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2011.01.009
Publication status	Published - 2011

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10.1016/j.healthplace.2011.01.009

Cite this

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abstract = "We examined the associations between the physical, social, and policy environments of schools and adiposity in 9-10 year old children in Norfolk, UK. The relationships between 56 school-level variables and Fat Mass Index (FMI; fat mass (kg)/height (m2)) were investigated among 1724 well characterised children from 92 schools in this cross-sectional study. After stepwise removal of variables from multilevel linear regression models stratified by gender, only three variables were significantly associated with FMI. Among girls, attending a school with more pupils in the year group was associated with lower FMI, and attending a school with better cycle provision was associated with higher FMI. In boys being allowed to eat any food at break-time was associated with higher FMI. There was some evidence of moderation of the relationship between cycle provision and FMI by urban-rural location. These data suggest that few school factors are associated with FMI, and provide limited pointers to inform potential future school-based interventions to reduce obesity.",

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AU - Cassidy, Aedín

AU - van Sluijs, Esther M. F.

AU - Griffin, Simon J.

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AB - We examined the associations between the physical, social, and policy environments of schools and adiposity in 9-10 year old children in Norfolk, UK. The relationships between 56 school-level variables and Fat Mass Index (FMI; fat mass (kg)/height (m2)) were investigated among 1724 well characterised children from 92 schools in this cross-sectional study. After stepwise removal of variables from multilevel linear regression models stratified by gender, only three variables were significantly associated with FMI. Among girls, attending a school with more pupils in the year group was associated with lower FMI, and attending a school with better cycle provision was associated with higher FMI. In boys being allowed to eat any food at break-time was associated with higher FMI. There was some evidence of moderation of the relationship between cycle provision and FMI by urban-rural location. These data suggest that few school factors are associated with FMI, and provide limited pointers to inform potential future school-based interventions to reduce obesity.

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