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Paediatrics
Research
Fast-food consumption and body mass index in children and adolescents: an international cross-sectional study
  1. Irene Braithwaite1,
  2. Alistair W Stewart2,
  3. Robert J Hancox3,
  4. Richard Beasley1,
  5. Rinki Murphy4,
  6. Edwin A Mitchell5,
  7. the ISAAC Phase Three Study Group
  1. 1Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand
  2. 2School of Population Health, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
  3. 3Department of Preventive & Social Medicine, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
  4. 4Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Medicine, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
  5. 5Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Paediatrics: Child and Youth Health, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
  1. Correspondence to Dr Irene Braithwaite; irene.braithwaite{at}mrinz.ac.nz

Abstract

Objective To investigate whether reported fast-food consumption over the previous year is associated with higher childhood or adolescent body mass index (BMI).

Design Secondary analysis from a multicentre, multicountry cross-sectional study (International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Children (ISAAC) Phase Three).

Subjects and methods Parents/guardians of children aged 6–7 completed questionnaires which included questions about their children's asthma and allergies, fast-food consumption, height and weight. Adolescents aged 13–14 completed the same questionnaire. The questionnaire asked “In the past 12 months, how often on average did you (your child) eat fast-food/burgers?” The responses were infrequent (never/only occasionally), frequent (once/twice a week) or very frequent (three or more times per week). A general linear mixed model was used to determine the association between BMI and fast-food consumption, adjusting for Gross National Income per capita by country, measurement type (whether heights/weights were reported or measured), age and sex.

Results 72 900 children (17 countries) and 199 135 adolescents (36 countries) provided data. Frequent and very frequent fast-food consumption was reported in 23% and 4% of children, and 39% and 13% of adolescents, respectively. Children in the frequent and very frequent groups had a BMI that was 0.15 and 0.22 kg/m2 higher than those in the infrequent group (p<0.001). Male adolescents in the frequent and very frequent groups had a BMI that was 0.14 and 0.28 kg/m2 lower than those in the infrequent group (p<0.001). Female adolescents in the frequent and very frequent groups had a BMI that was 0.19 kg/m2 lower than those in the infrequent group (p<0.001).

Conclusions Reported fast-food consumption is high in childhood and increases in adolescence. Compared with infrequent fast-food consumption, frequent and very frequent consumption is associated with a higher BMI in children. Owing to residual confounding, reverse causation and likely misreporting, the reverse association observed in adolescents should be interpreted with caution.

  • BMI
  • Fast food consumption
  • International
  • Childhood obesity
  • Childhood overweight

This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2014-005813

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