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Preschool obesity among girls may be tied to social adversity
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Girls who face social risk factors such as domestic violence and substance abuse were more likely to be obese at 5 years of age, according to researchers.
Researchers sampled 1,605 urban children aged 1 to 3 years who lived in lower socioeconomic conditions. Social risk factors included:
- Intimate partner violence.
- Housing insecurity.
- Food insecurity.
- Maternal substance abuse.
- Maternal depressive symptoms.
- Paternal incarceration.
Risk factors were assessed when children were aged 1 and 3 years. Researchers then measured participants’ height and weight at 5 years of age. Logistic regression models, stratified according to gender, were used to determine the association between social adversity and obesity.
Results showed that 17% of children were clinically obese at 5 years of age. Fifty-seven percent of children had at least one risk factor at the 12- and 36-month time periods. Girls who experienced “high cumulative social risk” (≥2 factors) at 1 year only (OR=2.1; 95% CI, 1.1-4.1) and 3 years only (OR=2.2; 95% CI, 1.2-4.2) were at increased odds of being obese compared with girls who experienced no risk factors at either 12 or 36 months. There were no significant connections between social risk factors and obesity for boys, according to the researchers, who also found no difference between boys and girls in the distribution of social risk factors.
One of the reasons that social adversity may affect obesity in girls more than in boys may be how each gender responds to stress. “It has been proposed that these differential effects could be the result of differences in coping mechanisms,” the researchers said. “[G]irls may be more likely to respond to stress with emotional and binge eating.”
Researchers emphasized the importance of understanding the social risk factors associated with early childhood obesity. “Identifying modifiable mediators of these associations can better inform intervention and prevention efforts to curb childhood obesity,” they said.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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