Risk factors for obesity in 7-year-old European children: the Auckland Birthweight Collaborative Study

• Published in: Archives of disease in childhood 2007-10, Vol.92 (10), p.866-871
• Main Authors: Blair, Nikki J, Thompson, John M D, Black, Peter N, Becroft, David M O, Clark, Phillipa M, Han, Dug Yeo, Robinson, Elizabeth, Waldie, Karen E, Wild, Chris J, Mitchell, Edwin A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age; Babies; Biological and medical sciences; Birth weight; Body composition; Body Mass Index; Child; Child Development - physiology; Child Health; Child, Preschool; Childhood obesity; Children & youth; Childrens health; Collaboration; Diet; Epidemiology; General aspects; Health aspects; Health risk assessment; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Medical sciences; Metabolism; Miscellaneous; Multiple births; New Zealand - epidemiology; Obesity; Obesity - etiology; Obesity in children; Original; Parent-Child Relations; Predictive Value of Tests; Pregnancy; Preschool children; Prevention and actions; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Risk Factors; Socioeconomic Factors; Studies; Television; Young Children
• ISSN: 0003-9888; 1468-2044
• DOI: 10.1136/adc.2007.116855

Objective:To identify risk factors associated with obesity in primary school children, with a particular focus on those which can be modified. To identify critical periods and growth patterns in the development of childhood obesity.Methods:871 New Zealand European children were enrolled in a longitudinal study at birth and data were collected at birth, 1, 3.5 and 7 years of age. Data collected at 7 years included weight, height, bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), television viewing time and a 24 h body movement record (actigraphy). The outcome measure was percentage body fat (PBF), which was calculated at 3.5 and 7 years using BIA. Univariate and multiple regression analyses were carried out using PBF as a continuous variable.Results:Multivariable analysis found maternal overweight/obesity, maternal age, female gender, sedentary activity time and hours of television viewing to be independently associated with PBF at 7 years. Growth variables (birth weight, rapid weight gain in infancy, early (1–3.5 years) and middle childhood (3.5–7 years)) were also independently associated with adiposity at 7 years. There was a strong correlation between PBF at 3.5 years and PBF at 7 years.Conclusions:Many primary school aged children start on the trajectory of obesity in the preschool years, which suggests interventions need to start early. Maternal overweight/obesity, television watching, sedentary activity time and rapid weight gain in infancy, early and middle childhood are risk factors for childhood obesity, and are all potentially modifiable.