Exploring the effect of socioeconomic development on child growth in posttransitional Croatia: a cross-sectional study
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Exploring the effect of socioeconomic development on child growth in posttransitional Croatia: a cross-sectional study Sanja Music´ Milanovic´1,2 • Maja Lang Morovic´1 • Helena Krizˇan1 • Martina Pezer3 • Jelena Seferovic´4 Sasˇa Missoni5
•
Received: 13 November 2019 / Revised: 8 June 2020 / Accepted: 26 June 2020 Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+) 2020
Abstract Objectives To determine the relationship between socioeconomic development (SD) of local administrative units (LAU) and the height and body mass index (BMI) of second- and third-grade children in Croatia. Methods We analyzed average height-for-age and BMI-for-age z-scores of 99 LAUs, based on the measurement of 5662 children participating in the Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative Croatia. SD was defined according to the governmental Development index. Pearson’s correlations between average height and BMI z-scores and SD were calculated. We used ANOVA to test differences in average height and BMI z-scores among LAUs from different SD quartiles and multiple linear regression to investigate the association between average height-for-age z-scores and SD. Results Height-for-age was significantly correlated with SD. We found a difference in average height-for-age between the least and more developed LAUs. A multiple linear regression model showed significant association between Development index and the average height-for-age z-score (F = 13.085, p \ 0.001, R2 = 0.119). Conclusions This finding is important for creators of policies worldwide as socioeconomic inequalities in children’s height may exist in other countries that, like Croatia, have recently gone through the transition process. Keywords Socioeconomic factors Income Educational status Growth and development Childhood obesity surveillance initiative Croatia
Introduction This article is part of the special issue ‘‘Adolescent Health in Central and Eastern Europe’’.
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-020-01424-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Anthropometric measures in children including height and body mass index (BMI) are the major determinants of child growth. Disproportions in these characteristics are the determining factors of poor growth and malnutrition in children and are mostly caused by either deficient or Sasˇa Missoni [email protected]
& Maja Lang Morovic´ [email protected] Sanja Music´ Milanovic´ [email protected] Helena Krizˇan [email protected] Martina Pezer [email protected]
1
Croatian Institute of Public Health, Zagreb, Croatia
2
School of Public Health Andrija Sˇtampar, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
3
Institute of Public Finance, Zagreb, Croatia
4
Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
5
Institute for Anthropological Research, Zagreb, Croatia
Jelena Seferovic´ [email protected]
123
S. Music´ Mi
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