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Self-regulation's connection to obesity differs in boys vs. girls
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Researchers found that the relationship between toddlers’ ability to self-regulate and their risk for obesity in later childhood differed between boys and girls. The findings, published in JAMA Pediatrics, suggest that prevention efforts aimed at obesity will have different effects based on gender.
“We analyzed data from a large national cohort study to examine how different levels of toddler self-regulation are associated with the prevalence of obesity at kindergarten age and whether boys and girls differ in how self-regulation and obesity are associated,” Sarah Anderson, PhD, an associate professor in the division of epidemiology at The Ohio State University College of Public Health, told Infectious Diseases in Children. “We found that the pattern of association between toddler self-regulation and child obesity was different in boys and girls.”
Anderson and colleagues used data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort, with a nationally representative sample of children born in the United States in 2001 and followed through kindergarten.
The analysis included 6,400 children (50.6% boys) who were observed when they were toddlers (median age, 24.1 months) for self-regulation. The toddlers were scored for adaptability, attention, persistence and frustration. The children’s BMI was measured at a median age of 64.5 months.
The researchers found that boys had lower self-regulation scores compared with girls (mean score, 13.7; 95% CI, 13.4-13.9 vs. 14.9; 95% CI, 14.7-15.1), and more boys (66.5% vs. 33.5%) were in the lowest self-regulation quartile. Boys also had a higher prevalence of obesity than girls (19.2% vs. 16.5%).
The findings suggested that boys and girls experienced different patterns of association between self-regulation as toddlers and obesity at 5.5 years (P = .008 for interaction).
The researchers reported that boys had an adjusted prevalence of obesity of 19.7%, 18.3%, 20.3% and 15.9% from the lowest to highest quartile of self-regulation. However, girls had a U-shaped association of 17%, 10.3%, 10.7% and 15% for the same quartiles.
The researchers noted that they were surprised by the finding that girls with the highest level of self-regulation had a high prevalence of obesity.
“This is the first study to look at gender differences in how levels of toddler self-regulation predict obesity,” Anderson said. “These findings suggest that obesity prevention efforts aimed at improving self-regulation may have different impacts in girls and boys. Our results should provide some caution against the assumption that the highest levels of self-regulation lead to optimal outcomes for both boys and girls in all contexts.” – by Bruce Thiel
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.
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