Are Under Weight Adolescents Boys Associated to a Lower Socioeconomic Status in Indonesia?

Background: A good understanding of the association between under nutrition and socioeconomic status (SES) has many important public health and policies implications for the prevention and management of underweight. Objective: To examine the relation of SES, education level, working status, urban-rural and age on the Body mass index (BMI). Methods: The data were part of Basic Health Research in Indonesia, 2010. It was a cross sectional study that covered the whole households' members that were chosen through a multistage random sampling. Data was gathered using structured questionnaire. Frequency distributions and logistic regression were used for assessment of statistical association between variables. Results: It covered 20,819 boys, their mean age: 14.1+2.9 years, the prevalence of underweight and normal weight was 51.3% and 39.9%. The prevalence of underweight at 10 years and 19 years were 73.6% and 21.5%; the prevalence of normal weight at 10 years and 19 years were 18.3% and 63.7%. The adjusted odds ratios for the association With underweight for aged 13-15 years were: 0.53 (95% CI:0.48-0.57); for aged 16-19 years 0.23(0.21-0.26); for status of not working 0.89(0.82-0.95); for status of working 0.59(0.54-0.66); for finished elementary school 1.29(1.14-1.48); for no schooling/did not finished elementary school1.73(1.50-2.00); for medium socio-economic status 1.16(1.0Er 1.29); for low socio-economic status 1.23(1.11-1.37). Conclusions: Younger adolescents, lack of schooling and those with lower socioeconomic were more likely to be underweight. This study will help the government for developing programs to assist underweight adolescents.