The association between maltreatment and obesity among preschool children

Abstract

Objective-To determine whether child maltreatment is associated with obesity in preschool children.Methods-Data were obtained from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a birth cohort study of 4898 children born between 1998 and 2000 in 20 large US cities. At 3 years of age, 2412 of these children had their height and weight measured, and mothers answered items on the ParentChild Conflict Tactics Scales about three types of child maltreatment-neglect, corporal punishment, and psychological aggression. The frequency of each type of maltreatment behavior in the prior year was analyzed using categories-ever/never for neglect and quintiles for the other 2 types of maltreatment. Child obesity was defined as measured body mass index (kg/m 2 ) ≥ 95 th percentile.Results-Eighteen percent of the children were obese, and the prevalence of any episode of neglect, corporal punishment, and psychological aggression was 11%, 84%, and 93%, respectively. The odds of obesity were increased in children who had experienced neglect (odds ratio 1.56, 95% confidence interval, 1.14-2.14), after controlling for the income and number of children in the household, the mothers' race/ethnicity, education, marital status, body mass index, prenatal smoking, and age, and the children's sex and birth weight. Neither the frequency of corporal punishment nor psychological aggression was associated with an increased risk of obesity.Conclusions-In a sample of preschool children from 20 large US cities, maternal self-report of neglectful behavior was associated with an increased risk of childhood obesity, after controlling for birth weight, maternal obesity, and multiple socioeconomic factors.

The relations of child adiposity with parent-to-child and parent-to-parent hostility

“…Yet our finding contrasts with those reported by Gooding et al (2015) and Whitaker et al (2007), where emotional abuse was not significantly associated with child or adolescent BMI. Given these contradictory findings, future studies, and perhaps a meta-analytic review, will be necessary to substantiate the association.…”

“…In contrast, Schneiderman, Mennen, Negriff, and Trickett (2012) reported an unexpected inverse association of physical abuse victimisation and obesity in adolescent girls. In two studies with younger children, Burke et al (2011) showed that overall adverse childhood experiences (including emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, along with other non-abusive stressors) predicted greater BMI in 8-year-olds, but Whitaker et al (2007) found no relation between preschoolers' obesity and either corporal punishment or psychological/emotional (e.g., name calling; threats) parent-to-child aggression.…”

Chemical and non-chemical stressors affecting childhood obesity: a systematic scoping review

“…Much research has been undertaken to study the link between any one individual factor and obesity. [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] For example, metabolic risk factors such as diabetes have been shown to be linked to obesity, and there is growing research exploring the associations between chemical exposures and diabetes. 15,16 However, the inter-relationships between stressors are not well understood.…”

Effect of physical intimate partner violence on body mass index in low-income adult women

“…The literature has focused especially on violence in childhood or adolescence and its repercussions during this same phase of life or later, in adulthood. Although the findings are still limited, they point to a direct statistical association between violence and overweight/obesity 11,12,13 . The main assumption of such studies is that suffering abuse oneself and witnessing intimate partner violence during childhood and adolescence trigger various mental health problems and lead to excessive consumption of high energy-density foods and reduced physical activity, lifestyles that can last into adulthood 13,14 .…”