Association of Meat Intake with Overweight and Obesity among School-aged Children and Adolescents

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the association of overweight and obesity with red and white meat intake among children and adolescents using secondary survey data (n=16,261) from in-school Student Health Examination conducted in 2006 and 2007. METHODS: Descriptive statistics was conducted to investigate the frequency of meat intake per week. The body mass index (BMI) grades for obesity in boys and girls were classified using the standards from the 2007 Korean National Growth Charts. The association of meat intake with overweight and obesity was analyzed using Chi-square test and multiple logistic regression. RESULTS: The proportion of subjects with no intake/week vs. daily meat intake/week was 5.9% and 5.5%, respectively. No intake of meat was more frequent in those who were female and in middle school, whereas daily meat intake was more frequent in those who were male and in high school. The proportions of overweight and obesity in the no meat intake/week group and daily meat intake/week group were 12.3% and 11.1% vs. 8.1% and 9.9%, respectively. After adjusting for confounding variables, including age; consumption of instant noodles, soft drinks and fast foods, dairy products, and fruits and vegetables; and skipping breakfast, the odds ratios of overweight and obesity in the no meat intake/week group were 1.41 times higher (95% confidence interval, 1.04–1.85) than those in the daily meat intake/week group. CONCLUSION: It is important to consider correcting the perception about meat intake and obesity and avoid restricting meat intake to prevent overweight and obesity among children and adolescents.