A narrative literature review of the development of obesity in infancy and childhood

Abstract

This narrative review explains the development of excess weight gain in babies and children. It takes a life course approach which includes genetics, pre-conception, pregnancy, infancy and childhood. The paper focuses on feeding behaviours, physical activity, parental influences and the wider social and environmental context. Risk factors which can cumulatively lead to excess childhood weight gain include: under- or overweight during pregnancy; the presence of diabetes during pregnancy; low or high birth weight; having obese parents; early weaning; prolonged formula feeding; rapid weight gain in the first year; disinhibited eating patterns and the consistent availability of energy dense food at home; feeding practices which are not responsive to the child's cues; insufficient sleep among preschool children; sedentary parents; low parental education; living in poor socio-economic circumstances; absence, or perceived absence, of safe play areas; parents who lack time or confidence to authoritatively parent; environments where there is poor access to affordable lower energy dense foods; and parents who do not accept that excess weight is a health problem. Recommendations for health professionals are made.

Pediatrician-led Motivational Interviewing to Treat Overweight Children: An RCT

“…16 Some studies also highlight the need to pay attention to parental influence, 17 especially for younger children, 18 as parents are sometimes unconcerned about their child' s weight status 19 and they may not believe that excess weight gain can negatively affect their child' s health. 4 Expert Committee recommendations 15 suggest the use of patient-centered counseling techniques such as motivational interviewing, which helps families identify their own motivation for making changes. The US Preventive Services Task Force recommends screening children aged $6 years for obesity and referring to behavioral interventions.…”

“…[2][3][4] Obesity in children is recognized as a complex, multifactorial problem. Weiss et al 5 discussed a "toxic obesity-inducing environment" that should be counteracted through family-, school-, and community-based interventions.…”

Systematic Development and Validation of a Theory-Based Questionnaire to Assess Toddler Feeding

“…3 Assessed using Beck Depression Inventory (22). 4 Assessed using Perceived Stress Scale (21). 5 Assessed using Infant Characteristics Questionnaire (fussiness factor) (25).…”

“…In the past 30 y, childhood overweight/obesity has reached epidemic proportions, particularly among minority and/or low-income populations in high-income countries (1). During early childhood, eating behaviors are established that can influence overweight/obesity risks through adolescence and adulthood (2)(3)(4). Early life experiences around eating are influenced by parental feeding behaviors and attitudes, which may translate into differences in dietary intake and growth patterns, making the first few years of life an ideal period to help children establish healthy eating behaviors and avoid overweight/obesity (5)(6)(7).…”

SIRT1 gene variants are related to risk of childhood obesity

“…It is defined as a pathological increase of body fat. There is a variety of factors that play a role in obesity such as behavioral properties (diet and eating habits, physical activities), prenatal factors, and physiological factors (age and gender) [4,15,19,28]. It is known that the individual variation due to epigenetic factors has a considerable interaction with the observed phenotypes [36].…”