Healthy lifestyles and physical fitness are associated with abdominal obesity amongLatin‐Americanand Spanish preschool children: A cross‐cultural study

Abstract

Summary Background Identifying environmental factors that influence health in children are necessary to develop preventive strategies. Objective To determine the association between the lifestyles of children (i.e., Mediterranean diet (MD), physical activity (PA), fitness and screen time (ST) with abdominal obesity (AO) of preschoolers from three Spanish‐speaking countries (Chile, Colombia and Spain) with different socioeconomic levels and Human Development Index (HDI) indicators. Material and Methods This cross‐sectional study included 982 schoolchildren (aged 4–6 years; 56.8% girls) from Chile (n = 409), Colombia (n = 281), and Spain (n = 292). Body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist‐to‐height ratio (WtHR), adherence to the MD, PA, ST and physical fitness were evaluated. Results Spanish preschoolers reported a lower WtHR (p < 0.001), greater physical fitness (Z‐score) (p < 0.001) and higher adherence to the MD (p < 0.001) than their Chilean and Colombian peers. In addition, Colombian preschoolers had a better lifestyle (PA + ST) than their Chilean and Spanish peers (p < 0.001). Chilean preschoolers reported a higher prevalence of AO than the Spanish preschoolers (65% vs. 51.9%; p = 0.001). Conclusion Lifestyle had a significant association with AO among Spanish‐speaking preschool children, with physical fitness especially being a relevant factor regardless of the country of origin. The findings of the current study may support the development of public guidelines focusing on healthy lifestyles in children to create effective plans that contribute to the early treatment of AO in preschool children.

Physical activity and academic performance in students from same primary education school

“…Firstly, with regard to descriptive analysis, it was observed that most of the students from analysed school, 80.8%, engage in PA out of scholar hours compared to 19.2% of sedentary pupils. This data reveals that the percentage of physically active children is large, in line with recent research on the school population in our Spain [34,35,36].…”

Childhood Mediterranean Diet Adherence Is Associated with Lower Prevalence of Childhood Obesity, Specific Sociodemographic, and Lifestyle Factors: A Cross-Sectional Study in Pre-School Children

“…Accordingly, in a randomized, parallel trial of children aged 3–5 years old, high MD adherence resulted in a reduction in BMI after one year and at the end of the follow-up interval [ 69 ]. A cross-sectional study including 982 schoolchildren at the age of 4–6 years from Chile, Colombia, and Spain has also documented that a better lifestyle, including higher MD adherence, was significantly associated with a lower risk of abdominal obesity [ 70 ].…”

Obtienen mejores notas los estudiantes que practican deporte? Un estudio descriptivo con alumnos perte-necientes al mismo centro educativo de Educación Primaria. (Do students who practice sport get better grades? A descriptive research with students from same Primary Education school)

“…Este dato revela que el porcentaje de alumnos físicamente activos es amplio, lo que concuerda con lo publicado en recientes investigaciones sobre población escolar en nuestro país. (Melguizo et al, 2021;Rodríguez-Fernández et al, 2021;Latorre et al, 2022). Por el contrario, los valores obtenidos en nuestro Colegio difieren de los hallados por Alfonso-Rosa et al ( 2018), para quienes, en un mismo grupo de población, la mayoría de los alumnos estudiados eran sedentarios.…”