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American Journal of Epidemiology Advance Access originally published online on October 21, 2009
American Journal of Epidemiology 2009 170(10):1279-1289; doi:10.1093/aje/kwp284
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American Journal of Epidemiology © The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS

Correlates of Multiple Chronic Disease Behavioral Risk Factors in Canadian Children and Adolescents

Arsham Alamian* and Gilles Paradis

* Correspondence to Arsham Alamian, National Public Health Institute of Quebec, 190 Cremazie Boulevard East, Montreal, Quebec H2P 1E2, Canada (e-mail: arsham.alamian{at}umontreal.ca).

Received for publication May 13, 2009. Accepted for publication August 12, 2009.

The authors assessed individual, social, and school correlates of multiple chronic disease behavioral risk factors (physical inactivity, sedentary behavior, tobacco smoking, alcohol drinking, and high body mass index) in a representative sample of Canadian youth aged 10–15 years (mean = 12.5 years) attending public schools. Cross-sectional data (n = 1,747) from cycle 4 (2000–2001) of the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth were used. Ordinal regression models were constructed to investigate associations between selected covariates and multiple behavioral risk-factor levels (0/1, 2, 3, or 4/5 risk factors). Older age (odds ratio (OR) = 1.95, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.21, 3.13), caregiver smoking (OR = 1.49, 95% CI: 1.09, 2.03), reporting that most/all of one's peers smoked (OR = 7.31, 95% CI: 4.00, 13.35) or drank alcohol (OR = 3.77, 95% CI: 2.18, 6.53), and living in a lone-parent family (OR = 1.94, 95% CI: 1.31, 2.88) increased the likelihood of having multiple behavioral risk factors. Youth with high self-esteem (OR = 0.92, 95% CI: 0.85, 0.99) and youth from families with postsecondary education (OR = 0.58, 95% CI: 0.41, 0.82) were less likely to have a higher number of risk factors. Although several individual and social characteristics were associated with multiple behavioral risk factors, no school-related correlates emerged. These variables should be considered when planning prevention programs.

adolescent; child; chronic disease; health behavior; risk factors

Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; HBSC, Health Behavior in School-aged Children; NLSCY, National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth; OR, odds ratio; PMK, person most knowledgeable


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