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Racial, ethnic disparities increased obesity risk in children
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Rick factors in infancy and early childhood may influence racial and ethnic disparities in children who are overweight and obese, according to recent study results published in JAMA Pediatrics.
“Many early life risk factors for childhood obesity are more prevalent among blacks and Hispanics than among whites and may explain the higher prevalence among racial/ethnic minority children,” researchers wrote.
The prospective prebirth cohort study included 1,116 mother-child pairs (63% white, 17% black, 4% Hispanic). Researchers analyzed which racial and ethnic disparities were explained by factors during pregnancy (gestational diabetes and depression), infancy (rapid infant weight gain, feeding other than exclusive breast-feeding and early introduction of solid foods), and early childhood (sleep less than 12 hours per day, a television in the room where the child sleeps and any intake of sugar-sweetened beverages or fast food).
Researchers found higher BMI z scores in black and Hispanic participants. They also had higher total fat mass index and overweight/obesity prevalence than white participants.
Elsie M. Taveras
After adjustment for socioeconomic confounders and parental BMI, differences in BMI z scores decreased for black and Hispanic participants.
Adjustment for pregnancy risk factors did not reveal substantial changes. However, only small differences were found between whites, blacks and Hispanic participants after adjustment for infancy and childhood risk factors.
“Our findings suggest that modifiable risk factors throughout the life course, including infancy and early childhood, as well as social conditions in childhood and transgenerational obesity, are critical to understanding how disparities in childhood obesity arise,” researchers wrote. “Our findings also imply that efforts to eliminate ethnic/racial disparities in childhood obesity should focus on preventing these early life risk factors with their socio-environmental context.”
Disclosure: The study was supported by a grant from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.
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