Association of Clustering of Unhealthy Lifestyle Behaviors with Perceived and Actual Weight Status of Children and Adolescents: the CASPIAN-V Study

Abstract

Objective This study was conducted to determine the association of unhealthy lifestyle behaviors with actual and perceived weight status in a large sample of children and adolescents. Methods This national study was conducted from urban and rural areas of 30 provinces in Iran. Participants were 14,880 students, aged 7-18 years. The Latent class analysis was performed based on 11 unhealthy behaviors in dietary and physical activity habits. Results Compared to low unhealthy behaviors, the likelihood of moderately unhealthy behaviors was lower in girls who felt overweight/obese than those who felt normal (OR, 95 CI: 0.76 0.59, 0.97). The risk of moderately unhealthy behavior was greater in boys who were perceived by their parents as underweight than in those who were perceived by their parents as normal weight (OR, 95% CI: 1.65 1.21, 2.24). Conclusion Perceived body weight was more correlated with unhealthy lifestyle behaviors than actual weight status. Clustering of unhealthy lifestyle behaviors can be used for development of obesity prevention initiatives at individual and public health levels.