Social mobility by parent education and childhood overweight and obesity: a prospective cohort study

• Published in: European journal of public health 2021-08, Vol.31 (4), p.764-770
• Main Authors: Lin, Lizi, Yang-Huang, Junwen, Wang, Haijun, Santos, Susana, van Grieken, Amy, Raat, Hein
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Academic achievement; Age; Birth order; Body mass; Body mass index; Body size; Body weight; Childhood; Children; Children & youth; Cohort analysis; Education; Educational attainment; Fathers; Generalized linear models; Health aspects; Higher education; Linear analysis; Mobility; Mothers; Obesity; Obesity in children; Overweight; Parental influences; Parents; Parents & parenting; Pediatric research; Prevention; Public health; Risk factors; Social aspects; Social mobility; Statistical models; Upward mobility
• ISSN: 1101-1262; 1464-360X
• DOI: 10.1093/eurpub/ckab073

Background The association of social mobility, measured by parent education and childhood overweight and obesity (OWOB) has been scarcely reported on. This study evaluated the associations between social mobility measured by parent education and childhood OWOB at child age 6 and 10 years. Methods We analyzed data of 4030 children and parents participating in the Generation R study. We used generalized linear models controlling for potential confounders to determine if social mobility (upward mobility, static-low and static-high based on the change of parent education) was associated with age- and sex-specific standard deviation scores of body mass index (BMI-SDS) or OWOB (the cut-offs of International Obesity Task Force). Results Mean BMI-SDS of the children was 0.23 ± 0.89 and 0.26 ± 1.03 at child age 6 and 10 years, respectively; the prevalence of OWOB increased from 15.2 to 17.4%. Compared with children from mothers in the upward mobility group, children from mothers in the static-high group had lower BMI-SDS and lower odds of OWOB at both ages (all P