The profile of the Greek ‘XXL’ family

Abstract

Objective: To identify Greek families in which all members were overweight or obese (XXL families) and to describe their profile with regard to their socioeconomic status and their eating behaviours and practices. Design: A prospective cohort study. Setting: The metropolitan area of Kavala. Subjects: We recruited children aged 11 and 12 years from twelve primary schools, and their parents, from volunteers. Auxologic measurements of the children included height and weight. A structured questionnaire pertaining to information on the socio-economic status of the family, anthropometric values and educational status of parents, dietary habits and the availability of various food products and beverages at home, as well as dietary intake, physical activity, time spent sleeping and time spent watching television, was filled in by one of the parents of each child. A total of 331 families finally participated. Results: In sixty-one families (18?43 %) both parents and child were either overweight or obese (XXL family), and in seven of these families all members were obese. Only twenty-eight families (8?46 %) had all members with a normal BMI. The XXL family was associated with lower educational status of both parents, whereas a higher percentage of XXL families resided in rural areas and had lower income. Skipping breakfast and spending more than 3 h in front of a screen every day were more frequently observed in XXL families. With regard to the availability of various food products and beverages at home, no significant differences were observed between XXL families and the rest of the studied families. Conclusions: Greek XXL families have lower educational status and lower annual income.

Mediterranean diet and socio-economic status in Greek adolescents

“…Finally, recent studies report low adherence rates to the MD in Greek children and adolescents (Kontogianni et al, 2008) and high childhood obesity rates in Greek families of lower educational status and lower annual income (Christoforidis et al, 2011).…”

Proposal for a Breakfast Quality Index (BQI) for children and adolescents

“…A key feature of the Mediterranean dietary pattern is the consumption of an adequate breakfast, which can be defined as the first meal of the day, taken before or at the start of daily activities with an energy content that meets 20-25 % of total daily energy needs (7)(8)(9) , and which includes dairy products, cereals, fruit and healthy fats. Among both adults and adolescents, the skipping of breakfast has been associated with smoking, infrequent exercise, low educational level, frequent alcohol use and high BMI (10)(11)(12)(13) . It has been reported that the failure to consume an adequate breakfast contributes to poor school performance and to dietary deficits that are rarely compensated for at other meals and may lead to a higher consumption of energy-dense snacks later in the day (14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20) .…”