Prevalence and protective factors for walu-win ngawaal (healthy weight) status in Aboriginal children living in urban and regional Australia

OBJECTIVE: To identify factors protective of healthy weight for Aboriginal children living in urban and regional Australia. METHODS: Data were collected from 1139 Aboriginal children aged 2-19 years from the Study of Environment on Aboriginal Resilience and Child Health (SEARCH). BMI z-scores were calculated using WHO age and sex specific cut-offs. Poisson regression models were used to examine the association between BMI z-scores and child- and family-level socio-demographic, lifestyle, and environmental factors. RESULTS: A majority of children had a healthy weight (67 %); 17 % had overweight and 16 % had obesity, with similar percentages for females and males in all three categories. Children were more likely to have a healthy weight if they were younger, had a lower waist-to-height (WHtR) ratio, a caregiver with a healthy weight and had housing affordability problems. For every extra hour of physical activity undertaken per day children were 7 % more likely to have a healthy weight. CONCLUSIONS: Healthy weight prevalence decreased with increasing age and decreasing physical activity levels in Aboriginal children and was strongly linked to caregiver BMI. IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH: Implementing effective, community-led, culturally sensitive programs that support increased physical activity and promote healthy weight in childhood should be a public health priority.