Ethnic Background and Overweight among 5-Year-Old Children: The “Be Active, Eat Right” Study

Table 3

Logistic regression analyses for association between ethnic background and overweight (obesity included) among 5 year olds, after adjustment for confounders and mediators (𝑛=7801).

Ethnic background child	Model 2; OR (95% CI)	Model 3; OR (95% CI)	Change 𝑎^a (%)
Dutch	1.00 (reference)	1.00 (reference)
Moroccan	2.14 (1.39–3.28)	2.05 (1.33–3.15)	−7.9%
Turkish	3.30 (2.23–4.87)	3.02 (2.02–4.50)	−12.2%
Surinamese	0.43 (0.19–0.98)	0.41 (0.18–0.95)	+3.5%
Dutch Antillean	1.70 (0.86–3.35)	1.64 (0.83–3.25)	−8.6%

OR: odds ratio; CI: confidence interval.
Model 2: ethnic background of the child + gender of the parent, educational level of the parent, and family situation + parental overweight (overweight (obesity included) = BMI ≥ 25 (kg/m²)) [3].
Model 3: model 2 + relevant lifestyle-related behaviors of the child (watching TV, having breakfast) (see Table 2).
^aChange 𝑎 represents the respective change in OR for children with a Moroccan, Turkish, Surinamese, and Dutch Antillean ethnic background relative to model 2, after adjustment for mediators, the lifestyle-related behaviors of the child (model 3) ([OR_model3−OR_model2]/[OR_model2−1] × 100).