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Utility and applicability of the “Childhood Obesity Risk Evaluation” (CORE)-index in predicting obesity in childhood and adolescence in Greece from early life: the “National Action Plan for Public Health”

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Abstract

Early identification of infants being at high risk to become obese at their later childhood or adolescence can be of vital importance in any obesity prevention initiative. The aim of the present study was to examine the utility and applicability of the “Childhood Obesity Risk Evaluation (CORE)” index as a screening tool for the early prediction of obesity in childhood and adolescence. Anthropometric, socio-demographic data were collected cross-sectionally and retrospectively from a representative sample of 5946 children, and adolescents and were combined for calculating the CORE-index score. Logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the associations of the CORE-index score with obesity by gender and age group, and cut-off point analysis was also applied to identify the optimal value of the CORE-index score that differentiates obese from non-obese children. Mean CORE-index score in the total sample was 3.06 (sd 1.92) units (range 0–11 units). Each unit increase in the CORE-index score was found to be associated with a 30 % (95 % C.I. 1.24–1.36) increased likelihood for obesity in childhood or adolescence, while the optimal cut-off value of the CORE-index score that predicted obesity with the highest possible sensitivity and specificity was found to be 3.5.

Conclusion: The present study supports the utility and applicability of the CORE-index as a screening tool for the early identification of infants that are potentially at a higher risk for becoming obese at their childhood and adolescence. This tool could be routinely used by health professionals to identify infants at high risk and provide appropriate counselling to their parents and caregivers so as to maximize the effectiveness of early obesity prevention initiatives.

What is known?

• Childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions worldwide.

• Certain perinatal and socio-demographic indices that were previously identified as correlates of childhood obesity in children were combined to develop the CORE-index, a screening tool that estimates obesity risk in 9–13 year-old children.

What is new?

• The utility and applicability of the CORE-index as screening tool can be extended to the age range of 6–15 years.

• The CORE-index is a cost-effective screening tool that can assist health professionals in initiating obesity preventive measures from early life.

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Abbreviations

BMI:

Body mass index

CI:

Confidence interval

CORE:

Childhood Obesity Risk Evaluation

HGS:

Healthy Growth Study

IOTF:

International Obesity Task Force

ROC:

Receiver operating characteristic

SPSS:

Statistical Package for Social Sciences

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Acknowledgments

The authors are indebted to all research team members, as well as to the parents/caregivers, teachers, and children for their participation in the study.

Authors’ contributions

YM, EV, FK, TP, DK, GB, VC, AH, and SM contributed to the design of the study, data collection, and data management. YM and GM lead the statistical analyses with the contribution and input from all authors. All authors contributed to the writing of the manuscript, critically reviewed, and approved the final version of the manuscript for publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Harokopio University of Athens, 70, El.Venizelou Ave, 17671 Kallithea, Athens, Greece

    Yannis Manios & George Moschonis

  2. Department of Endocrinology, Children’s Hospital P. & A. Kyriakou, Athens, Greece

    Elpis Vlachopapadopoulou, Feneli Karachaliou & Stefanos Michalacos

  3. Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Theodora Psaltopoulou & Angelos Hatzakis

  4. School of Physical Education and Sports Science, University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Dimitra Koutsouki & Gregory Bogdanis

  5. Department of Public Health and Community Health, Technological Educational Institute of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Vilelmine Carayanni

Authors
  1. Yannis Manios
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  2. Elpis Vlachopapadopoulou
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  3. George Moschonis
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  5. Theodora Psaltopoulou
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  9. Angelos Hatzakis
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  10. Stefanos Michalacos
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yannis Manios.

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Funding

This research was financed by the European Union through the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) 2007-1013 (MIS 3012015).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Manios, Y., Vlachopapadopoulou, E., Moschonis, G. et al. Utility and applicability of the “Childhood Obesity Risk Evaluation” (CORE)-index in predicting obesity in childhood and adolescence in Greece from early life: the “National Action Plan for Public Health”. Eur J Pediatr 175, 1989–1996 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-016-2799-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-016-2799-2

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