The Influence of Place on Weight Gain during Early Childhood: A Population-Based, Longitudinal Study

Megan Ann Carter,Mark S Tremblay,Monica Taljaard,Lise Dubois

doi:10.1007/s11524-012-9712-8

Abstract

The objective of this paper was to determine the influence of place factors on weight gain in a contemporary cohort of children while also adjusting for early life and individual/family social factors. Participants from the Québec Longitudinal Study of Child Development comprised the sample for analysis (n = 1,580). A mixed-effects regression analysis was conducted to determine the longitudinal relationship between these place factors and standardized BMI, from age 4 to 10 years. The average relationship with time was found to be quadratic (rate of weight gain increased over time). Neighborhood material deprivation was found to be positively related to weight gain. Social deprivation, social disorder, and living in a medium density area were inversely related, while no association was found for social cohesion. Early life factors and genetic proxies appeared to be important in explaining weight gain in this sample. This study suggests that residential environments may play a role in childhood weight change; however, pathways are likely to be complex and interacting and perhaps not as important as early life factors and genetic proxies. Further work is required to clarify these relationships.

Highlights

Childhood overweight and obesity have risen dramatically in the last years in Canada[1,2] and in many other countries.[3,4] In 2004, % of Canadian children aged 2–17 years were overweight and 8 % were obese.[2]
The 540 children who were excluded were more likely to be from low socioeconomic status (SES) households, have immigrant mothers, live in materially and socially deprived neighborhoods, and exhibit the overeating phenotype compared to children who were included (χ2 PG0.05)
Of the excluded children that had response measures, there were no differences in BMI Z-score between excluded and included children at any of the time points (ANOVA F test)

Summary

Introduction

Childhood overweight and obesity have risen dramatically in the last years in Canada[1,2] and in many other countries.[3,4] In 2004, % of Canadian children aged 2–17 years were overweight and 8 % were obese.[2] From 1978/1979 to 2004, the prevalence of overweight and obesity increased twofold among 6–17-year-olds. The etiologic literature on childhood weight status has tended to focus on individual characteristics rather than on broader contextual circumstances. The high prevalence of childhood obesity has not abated, suggesting that prevention

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