Parenthood--a contributing factor to childhood obesity

Prevalence of childhood obesity and its complications have increased world-wide. Parental status may be associated with children's health outcomes including their eating habits, body weight and blood cholesterol. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) for the years 1988-1...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of environmental research and public health 2010-07, Vol.7 (7), p.2800-2810
Main Authors: Huffman, Fatma G, Kanikireddy, Sankarabharan, Patel, Manthan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anthropometry
Body mass index
Child
Childrens health
Cholesterol
Cholesterol - blood
Diet
Dietary Fats - administration & dosage
Female
Humans
Logistic Models
Male
Nutrition Surveys
Obesity
Obesity - epidemiology
Single-Parent Family - statistics & numerical data
United States - epidemiology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Prevalence of childhood obesity and its complications have increased world-wide. Parental status may be associated with children's health outcomes including their eating habits, body weight and blood cholesterol. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) for the years 1988-1994, provided a unique opportunity for matching parents to children enabling analyses of joint demographics, racial differences and health indicators. Specifically, the NHANES III data, 1988-1994, of 219 households with single-parents and 780 dual-parent households were analyzed as predictors for primary outcome variables of children's Body Mass Index (BMI), dietary nutrient intakes and blood cholesterol. Children of single-parent households were significantly (p < 0.01) more overweight than children of dual-parent households. Total calorie and saturated fatty acid intakes were higher among children of single-parent households than dual-parent households (p < 0.05). On average, Black children were more overweight (p < 0.04) than children of other races. The study results implied a strong relationship between single-parent status and excess weight in children. Further studies are needed to explore the dynamics of single-parent households and its influence on childhood diet and obesity. Parental involvement in the development of school- and community-based obesity prevention programs are suggested for effective health initiatives. Economic constraints and cultural preferences may be communicated directly by family involvement in these much needed public health programs.
ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph7072800