Short sleep and low milk intake are associated with obesity in a community of school aged children from Argentina

Abstract

Objectives Understanding the factors related to obesity during childhood allows for improved preventive actions specifically adapted to particular communities. The purpose of this study was to identify individual and familiar factors related to obesity in children. Methods A cross‐sectional study was conducted in an urban community in Argentina during the years 2015‐2016. Weight and height were measured on a probabilistic sample of 1366 schoolchildren aged 6 to 12 years. BMI categories were established according to International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) cut‐offs. Data were analyzed using multivariate and logistic regression models. Independent variables corresponded to four domains: anthropometric, socioeconomic and demographic, nutritional, and energy balance. Results Twenty percent of children were categorized as overweight (OW) and 12.2% were obese (OB). Parental IOTF grade was positively associated with childhood OW/OB (father B = 0.421 P = 0.000, OR = 1.52, 95% CI 1.24‐1.88; mother B = 0.498 P = 0.000, OR = 1.65, 95% CI 1.37‐1.97). The remaining variables were negatively associated with OW/OB: hours of sleep (B = −0.566 P = 0.001, OR = 0.57, 95% CI 0.41‐0.79), physical activity (B = −0.362 P = 0.017, OR = 0.70, 95% CI 0‐52‐0.94), and daily milk intake (B = −0.178 P = 0.045, OR = 0.84, 95% CI 0.70‐0.99). Parental IOTF predicted both OW and OB, while sleep hours predicted OW and physical activity predicted OB. Conclusions Family should be considered the initial target for effective strategies to reduce obesity. Like physical activity, the promotion of milk and dairy intake, as well as sleep, may have a major role in obesity reduction because of their protective effects in this community.

Total dairy consumption in relation to overweight and obesity in children and adolescents: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…Therefore, 77 articles were collected as full texts and were further assessed for inclusion. A total of 24 articles were included in the qualitative synthesis, 9,21–31,42–51 and 15 9,22–24,26,28,30,31,39,40,42,43,47,48,51 (which reported risk estimates comparing extreme categories) were included in quantitative synthesis meta‐analyses (Figure S1). Two of the studies (DeBoer et al 9 and Huus et al 26 ) conducted both cross‐sectional and prospective cohort analyses.…”

“…Any disagreement between researchers (MM and LL or IPG and JFGG) was solved by consensus or consulting a third researcher (NB‐T or SKN). When additional information from included articles was required for the analyses, the corresponding author was contacted by e‐mail 21–31 . We received responses from seven authors, 22,24–26 where two provided additional information relevant for inclusion in the analyses 25,31 …”

Prevalence of sleep-disordered breathing among adolescents and its association with the presence of obesity and hypertension

“…31 It has been demonstrated that poor sleep has an effect on the etiopathogenesis of obesity and HTN. 32,33 This study did not establish an association between sleep hours and obesity. However, a positive association was observed between reduced sleep hours and HTN.…”

Milk beverages can reduce nutrient inadequacy among Brazilian pre-school children: a dietary modelling study

“…In the current study there was a 5% higher incidence of obesity in children not meeting dairy recommendations, which may be a result of the displacement of milk with unhealthier foods/beverages. Orden et al showed, in an Argentine study published in 2019, that low milk consumption was associated with a higher risk of obesity [ 33 ]. It is evident that diet quality needs to be improved in this young population to help decrease the prevalence of obesity and micronutrient inadequacies.…”