Background: Childhood obesity remains a significant public health challenge globally. Croatia ranks among the leading European countries in terms of childhood overweight and obesity prevalence. Methods: The present cross-sectional study analysed overweight and obesity prevalence trends from 2003 to 2022 on a nationally representative sample containing data from five studies, two independent studies and three WHO COSI rounds. Data from a total of 11,817 children aged 7.00–8.99 were analysed. Weight categories were defined using the IOTF and WHO cut-offs. Overweight and obesity prevalence rates and trends overall and by sex and region were calculated, and binary regression models applied to investigate the relationship between the risk of overweight and several variables. p-value < 0.05 was used to define statistical significance. Results: Temporal trends and associations were investigated using the IOTF reference values. The prevalence of overweight (including obesity) had increased steadily from 2003 to 2015, thereafter continuing to increase at a slower rate, whereas the prevalence of severe obesity reduced over time. Even though boys had slightly higher prevalence rates of overweight, the growth in overweight prevalence in girls over time was significant. At the regional level, the lowest prevalence rates were detected in the capital (City of Zagreb region). The risk of overweight was at least 50% higher in all the other regions in Croatia, and a rising trend in overweight risk with time was particularly high among children in the Adriatic and Northern regions. Conclusions: Despite a deceleration in the rate of increase in overweight (including obesity) prevalence, Croatia is yet to reach a plateau observed in some other European countries. Unearthed regional differences warrant further investigation.

The Circumplex Model of Marital and Family Systems is one of the most widely used approaches in family studies. This model assumes that family communication is an important element in achieving positive family functioning because it allows family members to alter their levels of flexibility and cohesion. While this theoretical approach has been widely used and tested there are still some gaps in the empirical evidence on the universality of its assumptions. Considering that adolescents today live in a wide variety of families, that are very diverse according to their structures, it is important from an ethical standpoint to test the universality of any theoretical framework that is used in family interventions. This study therefore sought to investigate whether there are differences in satisfaction with family life and family communication in families with different structures and whether family communication is an important correlate of satisfaction with family life in all types of families, using data from a study of adolescents from Zagreb, Croatia (N = 4 821). Linear regression was used to evaluate the association of family satisfaction (dependent variable) with family communication and parental marital status (predictor variables) with the additional inclusion of interaction effects between family communication and parental marital status. The results of this study have shown that adolescents are generally satisfied with their family life and that there are differences in perceived family satisfaction and family communication between adolescents regarding the marital status of their parents. The results presented in this paper support the main hypothesis that in families with adolescents, family communication is strongly associated with family satisfaction, independently of parental marital status. The findings suggest that interventions aimed at improving family communication skills inadolescent families could benefit all families with adolescents.

Given the importance of physical activity for the prevention of overweight, this study sought to determine the type and number of physical activity risk behaviours that were associated with overweight in Croatian school children and their association...

Background: There has yet to be an agreement on which specific socioeconomic status (SES) indicator most effectively reflects disparities in children’s diets. However, children from lower SES backgrounds are particularly vulnerable, as research in other countries indicates that their diets contain fewer fruits and vegetables and more sweetened beverages. This paper aims to evaluate the associations between dietary habits and various SES indicators (education, occupation, income, and household size) among a representative sample of children in Croatia aged 7–10. Methods: Parents of children were asked to complete a questionnaire that contained indicators of their children’s dietary habits and socioeconomic status (n = 5608). Associations between SES and children’s dietary habits were assessed using logistic regression models. Results: The mother and father’s educational attainment were strongly positively associated with breakfast consumption. Children of parents with a lower educational level consumed sweetened beverages, sweet snacks, and fast food slightly more often than children in families with a higher educational background. The mother’s education was inversely associated with vegetable and cereal consumption, while the father’s education was inversely associated with fruit and bakery product consumption. Meanwhile, household income per unit had a significant influence on the consumption of soft drinks and bakery products. Household size had a significant influence solely on sweet snack consumption. Conclusions: Each SES indicator showed an independent association with at least one particular dietary habit, except for the parent’s employment status.

Background: While previous research on children’s diets has primarily focused on individual nutrients or foods, recent years have seen increasing attention to the analysis of dietary patterns. In school-aged children enrolled in the CroCOSI study, this research focused on identifying the dietary patterns and examining their potential links with childhood obesity. Methods: Data were collected from a nationally representative sample comprising 5608 children aged 7–10 years and their parents in this cross-sectional study. To evaluate the nutritional status of the children, BMI-for-age was assessed using z-score values. Results: A factor analysis using data from the FFQ revealed three dietary patterns: Western, Healthy, and Breakfast. Children who scored high for consumption of fruits, vegetables, fish, cheese, dairy products, and 100% fruit juice were categorized into the Healthy dietary pattern, whereas those with high scores for cereals and milk were assigned to the Breakfast dietary pattern. Conclusions: The Western dietary pattern did not show a significant relationship with obesity among school-aged children (OR = 1.00, 95% CI: 0.98–1.00; p = 0.11). The risk of obesity was lower among children following the Healthy (OR = 0.98, 95% CI: 0.98–0.99; p = 0.045) and Breakfast (OR = 0.96, 95% CI: 0.95–0.99; p = 0.001) dietary patterns.The results can help in creating food policies with the aim of reducing childhood obesity in Croatia.