Introduction:

few studies conducted in Spain have analysed the influence of ethnicity in the prevalence of overweight and obesity in adolescents. Our aim was to assess the prevalence of overweight and obesity in first-generation immigrant adolescents in Aragon, compared our results to those of the HBSC-2014 study for Spain, and discuss potential aetiological factors.

Materials and methods:

cross-sectional study in 274 immigrant adolescents (11-17 years) from Latin America (n = 160) and Eastern Europe (n = 114). To assess overweight and obesity, we calculated the body mass index an applied the cut-off points proposed by the International Obesity Task Force. We used two-tailed z- and t-tests for comparisons, defining statistical significance as a p-value of less than 0.05.

Results:

we found overweight or obesity in 27.5% of immigrant adolescents from Latin America (18.8% and 8.7%, respectively) and 14.9% of those from Eastern Europe (12.3% and 2.6%, respectively). In Latin American adolescents, the prevalence of obesity was significantly higher (P = .03846), as was the prevalence of overweight and obesity combined (P = .01352), mostly on account of male adolescents (P = .04036). The comparison with the HBSC-2014 study in Spain showed a higher prevalence of obesity in Latin American immigrant adolescents that was statistically significant (P = .00228).

Conclusions:

the prevalence of overweight and obesity in first-generation immigrant adolescents from Latin America was significantly higher than that observed in autochthonous Spanish adolescents and Caucasian first-generation immigrant adolescents. We believe that genetic, socio-economic, cultural and behavioural factors are involved in the aetiology of obesity and overweight. This population is at high risk of developing metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease in adulthood.

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