Parenthood—A Contributing Factor to Childhood Obesity
Department of Dietetics and Nutrition, Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th St., HLS1-435, Miami, FL 33199, USA
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Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2010, 7(7), 2800-2810; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph7072800
Received: 14 May 2010 / Revised: 17 June 2010 / Accepted: 28 June 2010 / Published: 30 June 2010
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Obesity and Public Health)
Prevalence of childhood obesity and its complications have increased world-wide. Parental status may be associated with children’s health outcomes including their eating habits, body weight and blood cholesterol. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) for the years 1988–1994, provided a unique opportunity for matching parents to children enabling analyses of joint demographics, racial differences and health indicators. Specifically, the NHANES III data, 1988–1994, of 219 households with single-parents and 780 dual-parent households were analyzed as predictors for primary outcome variables of children’s Body Mass Index (BMI), dietary nutrient intakes and blood cholesterol. Children of single-parent households were significantly (p < 0.01) more overweight than children of dual-parent households. Total calorie and saturated fatty acid intakes were higher among children of single-parent households than dual-parent households (p < 0.05). On average, Black children were more overweight (p < 0.04) than children of other races. The study results implied a strong relationship between single-parent status and excess weight in children. Further studies are needed to explore the dynamics of single-parent households and its influence on childhood diet and obesity. Parental involvement in the development of school- and community-based obesity prevention programs are suggested for effective health initiatives. Economic constraints and cultural preferences may be communicated directly by family involvement in these much needed public health programs.
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Keywords:
children’s diet; childhood obesity; NHANES; single-parent households; BMI; blood-cholesterol
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License
MDPI and ACS Style
Huffman, F.G.; Kanikireddy, S.; Patel, M. Parenthood—A Contributing Factor to Childhood Obesity. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2010, 7, 2800-2810. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph7072800
AMA Style
Huffman FG, Kanikireddy S, Patel M. Parenthood—A Contributing Factor to Childhood Obesity. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2010; 7(7):2800-2810. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph7072800
Chicago/Turabian StyleHuffman, Fatma G.; Kanikireddy, Sankarabharan; Patel, Manthan. 2010. "Parenthood—A Contributing Factor to Childhood Obesity" Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 7, no. 7: 2800-2810. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph7072800
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