Original Article

International Journal of Obesity (2008) 32, S19–S25; doi:10.1038/ijo.2008.178

Socioeconomic questionnaire and clinical assessment in the HELENA Cross-Sectional Study: methodology

C Iliescu1, L Béghin1,2, L Maes3, I De Bourdeaudhuij4, C Libersa1, C Vereecken3, M Gonzalez-Gross5,6, M Kersting7, D Molnar8, C Leclercq9, M Sjöström10, Y Manios11, K Wildhalm12, A Kafatos13, L A Moreno14 and F Gottrand1,2 on behalf of the HELENA Study Group15

  1. 1CIC 9301 CH&U-Inserm Lille, Lille, France
  2. 2EA 3925, IFR 114, Université de Lille 2, Lille, France
  3. 3Department of Public Health, Gent University, Belgium
  4. 4Department of Movement and Sport Sciences, Ghent University, Belgium
  5. 5Facultad de Ciencas de la Actividad Fisica y del Deporte, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
  6. 6Institut für Ernährungs und Lebensmittelwissenschaften, Rheinische Friedrichs-Wilhelm Universität, Bonn, Germany
  7. 7Research Institute of Child Nutrition Dortmund, Germany
  8. 8Department of Pediatrics, Pécs, Hungary
  9. 9INRAN - National Research Institute for Food and Nutrition, Rome, Italy
  10. 10Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Sweden
  11. 11Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Athens, Greece
  12. 12Department of Pediatrics, Division of Clinical Nutrition and Prevention, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
  13. 13Preventive Medicine & Nutrition Unit, University of Crete School of Medicine, Heraklion, Crete, Greece
  14. 14Escuela Universitaria de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain

Correspondence: Professor F Gottrand, EA 3925, Clinique de Pédiatrie, Hôpital Jeanne de Flandre, Lille, France. E-mail: fgottrand@chru-lille.fr

15See Appendix at the end of the supplement on page S82.

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Abstract

Rationale:

 

Environmental factors such as dietary habits, breastfeeding, socioeconomic conditions and educational factors are strong influences on nutritional and puberty status, physical activity, food choices and their interactions. Several diseases of adulthood seem to be linked to, or to originate from, lifestyle in childhood and adolescence.

Objective:

 

The aims of this study are to describe birth parameters and socioeconomic factors and to assess clinical status in adolescents aged 13–16 years from 10 European countries participating in the Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence (HELENA) Cross-Sectional Study (CSS).

Methodology:

 

A self-report questionnaire on the socioeconomic status, a parental questionnaire concerning neonatal period and also a case report form (CRF), in which clinical items during clinical examination (such as medical history, treatments, anthropometry, Tanner staging, blood pressure, heart rate) were assessed. To develop these documents, first a list of items was established, a search of existing documents was performed and the advice of local and international experts was taken. All documents (questionnaires and an operations manual) were discussed in plenary HELENA meetings; a final version of these documents was fixed, and the process of translation and back translation was performed.

Results:

 

The questionnaires and CRF were tested for validation in all 10 participant cities; 208 adolescents were enrolled during the pilot study. All items that caused problems or questions in one or more participating centers or were completed by < 85% of the adolescents were reviewed before the beginning of the HELENA-CSS.

Conclusion:

 

These final questionnaires and CRF will contribute to better understanding of the inequalities in nutrition, behavior and health in the European adolescent population. The experience and process should be useful for other multicenter studies.

Keywords:

adolescence, nutrition, socioeconomic, questionnaires, adults, morbidity

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