ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Children and Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1638605
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvances in Research and Prevention of Overweight and Obesity in YouthView all 8 articles
Correlation between Middle School Students' Weight and Their Family Background
Provisionally accepted
Xiying Zhao*
Peng Liu- Nanjing Xiaozhuang University, Nanjing, China
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Objective : This paper intends to understand the correlation between overweigh t and obesity in middle school students and their family background and to pr ovide suggestions for weight management which can improve their health and growth. Methods: A sample of 6,617 eighth-grade students from the China Education Panel Survey (CEPS) for the 2014-2015 academic year is used with the χ² test and binary logistic regression analysis model. Results: The rate of overweight and obesity among middle school students is 14.39%, with boys' higher than girls' (χ²=101.007, P<0.01). Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis showed that non-agricultural hukou (OR=1.235, P<0. 01), parents' occupation being manager in the enterprise (OR=1.224, P<0.05), a nd more than 2 hours of gaming in weekends (OR=1.304, P<0.05) are the mai n risk factors for overweight and obesity in middle school students. In contras t, being a child with siblings (OR=0.645, P<0.01), strict management of screen time from parents (OR=0.755, P<0.05), and drinking sugary drinks (OR=0.531, P<0.01) are the main protective factors against overweight and obesity.The influence of family background on overweight and obesity in middle school students cannot be ignored. Prevention and control of overweight and obesity should start with family health education to improve their health and growth.
Keywords: middle school students, Overweight and obesity, Family Backgrou nd, Correlation, Logistic regression
Received: 31 May 2025; Accepted: 02 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhao and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Xiying Zhao, Nanjing Xiaozhuang University, Nanjing, China
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