P133 - The Effect of Family Environment and Behaviors on Child Weight Status, Physical Activity, and Diet

Abstract

Background (Background, Rationale, Prior Research, and/or Theory): The association between the family environment and behaviors with obesogenic behaviors such as diet and physical activity between sexes is unknown. Objective: To determine the association between family environment and behavior with child weight status, diet, and physical activity by sex. Study Design, Setting, Participants, Intervention: Mother-child dyads with children aged 5.0 to 7.9 years were recruited. Parents completed the Family Nutrition and Physical Activity questionnaire (FNPA) to evaluate family environment and behaviors with 10 individual construct scores and a total sum score; a higher score was associated with desirable environment and behaviors. Waist circumference (WC), weight, and height were measured and percentiles calculated for age and sex. Parents logged child diet for two week days and one weekend day. Healthy Eating Index score (weekday and weekend) and total kcal/age were calculated. Child physical activity (PA) was measured using an accelerometer, evaluating counts per minute (CPM), sedentary time (percent time), and moderate-to-vigorous PA/hour. Linear regression models were stratified by sex. Results: 61 mother-child dyads (51.7% male) participated, including mainly Caucasian (63.9%), and married mothers (77%). On average, children were 5.7 ± 0.7 years old, with a BMI percentile of 60.4 ± 31.0, 64.4 ± 9.4 HEI total score, and 1187 ± 273.7 CPM. Total FNPA score and Child and Family Activity/Involvement construct were positively associated with CPM in boys only. In boys, Beverage Choices construct was positively associated with BMI percentile. Healthy Environment construct was negatively associated with weekday HEI in girls, while the Food Choices and Family Meals constructs were positively associated with kcal/age in boys. Conclusions and Implications: In this sample, family environment influenced child health behaviors, mainly in boys. The relationship between FNPA score and child outcomes had not been observed previously in a sex-stratified sample. These findings suggest there may be sex-related differences in the degree to which children are influenced by family behaviors. Funding: College of Allied Healthy Student Research and Creativity Grant, OUHSC Department of Nutritional Sciences.