Household routines may prevent childhood obesity

Preschool-aged children who regularly ate evening meals as a family, obtained adequate amounts of sleep and had limited television-viewing time had about a 40% lower prevalence of obesity than other children, according to a recent study.

In 2005, researchers from Ohio State University conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 8,550 4-year-old children using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, birth cohort (ECLS-B).

Eighteen percent of the children were obese, and 14.5% of those children were exposed to all three routines, and 12.4% were exposed to none of the routines. A little more than half of the overall cohort reported having family dinners six or seven evenings per week, 57.5% reported 10.5 hours of sleep per weeknight and only about 40.4% of the study cohort reported less than two hours of television or movie viewing per weekday.

Among children exposed to all three routines, the prevalence of obesity was 14.3% (95% CI, 11.3-17.2), compared with 24.5% (95% CI, 20.1-28.9) who were exposed to none of the routines. The researchers also noted that the number of routines was related to the prevalence of obesity, with each additional routine indicating a 17% (95% CI, 9-24) reduction in odds of obesity.

“Although we cannot make causal inferences from our data, the household routines we studied may be promising behavioral targets for counseling, given their association with obesity and their potential benefits beyond obesity prevention,” Sarah E. Anderson, PhD, said in the study.

Anderson SE. Pediatrics. 2010;125:420-428.