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Food, activity and family—environmental vs biochemical predictors of weight gain in children

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 57, pages 1242–1249 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective: To identify whether measures of energy intake and expenditure predict excessive weight gain over time in children and to describe how these measures relate to similar measures in parents.

Design: Prospective, descriptive study over 12 months with no intervention.

Setting: University teaching hospital.

Subjects: Children aged between 6.0 and 9.0 y. Recruitment was through advertisement. A total of 59 children (30 F), 41 mothers and 29 fathers. In all, 41 (69%) of the children were reviewed at 12 months (20 F).

Results: No significant correlations were identified between body mass index (BMI) z-score change in children over 12 months for any dietary variable or for any measures of energy expenditure, including hours of television viewing or percent time spent in low-, moderate- or high-intensity activity. The BMI z-score change over 12 months was significantly correlated with LDL cholesterol and Apo B/ApoA-1 ratio, independent of percent body fat (r=0.45, P=0.01; r=0.37, P=0.03). A significant positive correlation was found for mothers and girls for percent time in moderate to high activity (r=0.44, P=0.03) and between fathers and children for percent time spent in low activity (r=0.43, P=0.005).

Conclusions: The study has been unable to identify environmental predictors that indicate propensity to faster weight gain over time in this cohort of children, but has extended the evidence on lifestyle-influenced biochemical predictors that do. An overall lack of vigorous activity in this age group, and correlations between parental and child activity and inactivity have been identified.

Sponsorship: The Australian Rotary Health Foundation, The Financial Markets Foundation for Children, The National Health and Medical Research Council.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Endocrinology, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, NSW, Australia

    N Bogaert & K S Steinbeck

  2. Faculty of Medicine, University of Sydney, Australia

    K S Steinbeck

  3. Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Sydney, Children's Hospital at Westmead, Westmead, NSW, Australia

    L A Baur

  4. Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Biomedical Science, University of Sydney, Lidcombe, NSW, Australia

    K Brock & M A Bermingham

Authors
  1. N Bogaert
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  2. K S Steinbeck
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  3. L A Baur
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  4. K Brock
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  5. M A Bermingham
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Contributions

Guarantors: K Steinbeck, L Baur, and M Bermingham.

Contributors: NB was the research assistant for the project. She finalised the study, performed the statistical analysis and wrote the paper to final draft stage. KS and LB are both physicians and applied for the grant which allowed this study to be undertaken. They were cosupervisors of the study and produced the final version of the paper. KB is an epidemiologist and dietitian who was part of the original grant application and who helped NB with all the statistical analysis. MB is a lipid biochemist whose laboratory performed the lipid analyses, who was involved in advice on the grant application and who made a significant contribution to the writing of the paper.

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Correspondence to K S Steinbeck.

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Bogaert, N., Steinbeck, K., Baur, L. et al. Food, activity and family—environmental vs biochemical predictors of weight gain in children. Eur J Clin Nutr 57, 1242–1249 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601677

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