Prospective associations of lifestyle patterns in early childhood with socio‐emotional and behavioural development and BMI: An outcome‐wide analysis of the EDEN mother–child cohort

Abstract

Background Children's energy balance‐related behaviours (EBRB), comprising diet, screen time, physical activity, and sleep, combine into “lifestyle patterns”, which may exert a synergistic effect on health. To date, studies investigating this synergy have primarily focused on obesity risk, without addressing other facets of health. Objectives To examine the prospective associations of preschoolers' lifestyle patterns with socio‐emotional, behavioural, and body mass index (BMI) outcomes at 8 years. Methods Participants were 876 children from the EDEN mother–child cohort. Three lifestyle patterns (unhealthy, healthy, and mixed) were previously identified at age 5, separately in boys and girls. At age 8, height and weight measures generated BMI z‐scores while social–emotional and behavioural development was assessed by parents using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Drawing from the outcome‐wide approach, sex‐ and outcome‐specific adjusted linear regressions were fitted. Results Boys' adherence to a healthy lifestyle pattern (combining a nutrient‐dense diet and limited screen time) at 5 years was positively associated with prosocial behaviours (β = 0.14; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.01, 0.26) and inversely related to hyperactivity‐inattention symptoms (β = −0.12; 95% CI −0.23, −0.01) at 8 years. Girls' mixed lifestyle pattern (sugar or artificially sweetened beverages, high screen, physical activity and low sleep times) was associated with prosocial behaviours (β = 0.12; 95% CI 0.01, 0.23). There was no evidence of associations between lifestyle patterns and BMI z‐scores. Conclusions Findings suggest synergistic benefits of engaging in a combination of optimal EBRBs, especially in boys, and support intervention efforts at preschool age to enhance some dimensions of their later socio‐emotional and behavioural development.

Lifestyle Patterns of Children Experiencing Homelessness: Family Socio-Ecological Correlates and Links with Physical and Mental Health

“…Additionally, this work rigorously considered a wide array of covariates, which helped to reduce potential confounding and selection bias, though the possibility of broader (outcome-specific) unmeasured confounding cannot be entirely ruled out. Other key strengths of our study were the use of validated child psychological questionnaires (the SDQ and DI assessment) and objective measures of physical health that help to mitigate reporter bias, as well as the consistency of the highlighted lifestyle pattern–mental health associations with those underlined in the general population [ 43 ]. This research may seem relatively dated given the rapid changes that have occurred since the ENFAMS study [ 2 ].…”