Risk factors for childhood overweight: a 30-month longitudinal study of 3- to 6-year-old children

Abstract

Objective: The increasing prevalence of childhood overweight is an important health issue. There is a need for longitudinal research among children in order to identify risk factors for childhood overweight. The objective of the present research was to identify potential sociodemographic and behavioural risk factors for development of childhood overweight among 3-to 6-year-old children. Design: Longitudinal study. Setting: Sixteen pre-primary and primary schools. Subjects: BMI Z-scores at baseline and two follow-up measurements were calculated for 568 children. Sociodemographic, parental adiposity, familial composition, child's diet, physical activity and sedentary behavioural data were collected through questionnaires. Results: Several risk factors for the development of childhood overweight were found. Being an only child, lower maternal educational level, maternal and paternal overweight, more than 1 h screen time on weekdays and high soft drinks consumption were shown to be positively associated with the development of childhood overweight. Conclusions: Although behavioural factors are important, our findings support the thesis that interventions on the prevention of childhood overweight should focus on high-risk groups, i.e. children from low socio-economic background or with high parental BMI. Interventions should address the whole family and take into account their lifestyle and structure.

Evaluating the effect of energy-dense foods consumption on preschool children’s body mass index: a prospective analysis from 2 to 4 years of age

“…Prospective studies including consumption of EDF other than SSB by younger children are particularly scarce [32,45,48] and, similarly to the present study results, Eur J Nutr found no association between EDF consumption and weight status. However, in older children, distinct results have been reported.…”

“…Results from a study in the USA [40] give strength to the possibility of a low frequency of exposure, as levels of SSB consumption were also lower and no association with weight change was found. The higher prevalence of overweight and obesity in studies conducted in the USA [45,49,50], as well as in a study in the UK [30], may also explain the different results as the prevalence of overweight (including obesity) was much lower in our sample (8.6 % at 2 and 9.0 % at 4 years of age).…”

“…Also, a recent study [45] suggested a positive association between soft drinks consumption at 3-6 years of age and overweight at 18 and 30 months of follow-up, but after adjustment for sociodemographic and behavioral variables, no association between soft drink consumption and overweight was found.…”

The correlation between motor proficiency and physical activity in Senior Phase learners in the Potchefstroom area

“…Firstly, the test group was selected from one area of South-Africa and the generalisability of the findings is therefore limited. Secondly, the limited ability of children and adolescents to respond to self-report questionnaires with regard to physical activity is widely recognised in literature (De Coen et al 2014;Chen et al 2014;Hnatiuk, Salmon, Hinkley, Okely, & Trost, 2014) and could have affected the results. However, the results of this study emphasise that motor proficiency and the mastery of fundamental movement skills have an important role to play, even in adolescent learners in the Senior Phase, with regard to current, but also future participation in physical activity.…”

The association between parental overweight and obesity before pregnancy and the development of offspring overweight and obesity in childhood, adolescence and young adulthood

“…Unadjusted associations were reported by De Coen et al They found that children of overweight mothers were 2.99 times (95% CI: 1.80-4.97) more likely to become overweight at 5 years old compared to children of normal weight mothers [110]. They also reported however, that there was no significant increased risk of being overweight among children of an overweight father.…”