engleski

Family characteristics and child's nutritional and lifestyle characteristics associated with obesity

Background and aims: Family characteristics, including parental education, employment, income as well as their own state of nourishment, dietary and lifestyle habits all shape child's dietary and lifestyle habits and modulate child's risk for obesity. Methods: Randomized observational study on 375 children, 7 years old from Osijek, Croatia were recruited between May and June 2015. Parents completed the study-specific questionnaire and International Obesity Task Force cut-off values were used to categorize children according to their Body Mass Index (BMI). SES was assessed as objective and subjective, along with subjective social position (SSP) assessment. Results: According to monthly family income 19.26 % of families are at risk of poverty, and monthly income was confirmed as an independent risk factor for child's obesity (p=0.016). Families with obese children have significantly lower SSP assessment (p=0.006) in comparison to families with children with normal BMI. Number of children in a family showed to be important from the aspect of screen time and sleep duration ; firstborn children have less screen time and sleep longer in comparison to second (p=0.004) or the third child in a family (p=0.018). Children of unemployed mothers spend more time in front of a TV (p=0.019), but have more family meals during a week (p=0.005) and more portions of vegetables per day (p=0, 019) in comparison to children of employed mothers. However, the longest screen time was found among obese (p=0.030) and overweight children (p=0.019). Interestingly, father's BMI was confirmed to significantly increases child’s risk for overweight and obesity (p<0.001). Conclusion: The results confirm currently recognized family- related risks for childhood obesity but underscore father’s role in child’s risk for obesity. Statement: Family characteristics should be observed more thoroughly before launching any public health intervention aiming to reduce alarmingly high childhood obesity rates. Though mothers are considered to have higher influence on child’s risk for obesity, and most of the activities rely on their cooperation, fathers should be given a more active role too.

childhood obesity ; family characteristics ; childhood obesity ; risk factors

Suradnja sa Službom za školsku medicinu Zavoda za javno zdravstvo Osječko-baranjske županije.