Associations of Child Temperament with Child Overweight and Breakfast Habits: A Population Study in Five-Year-Olds

Area of Science:

• Child Psychology
• Pediatric Nutrition
• Developmental Epidemiology

Background:

• Child temperament is increasingly recognized as a factor influencing health behaviors.
• Early childhood overweight/obesity and irregular breakfast habits are significant public health concerns.
• Understanding the interplay between temperament and lifestyle in early development is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the associations between child temperament (externalizing, internalizing, sociable) and overweight/obesity status.
• To examine the relationship between child temperament and breakfast consumption frequency.
• To explore these associations in a large cohort of five-year-old children.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study of 17,409 five-year-olds from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa).
• Temperament assessed via questionnaire (externalizing, internalizing, sociable).
• Breakfast habits categorized (daily, frequent, infrequent); weight status determined by BMI-percentiles (normal vs. overweight/obese).

Main Results:

• Children with externalizing temperament had higher odds of being overweight and not eating breakfast daily.
• Internalizing temperament was associated with higher odds of not eating breakfast daily, but not overweight.
• Average sociability was linked to higher odds of being overweight with normal breakfast habits.

Conclusions:

• Externalizing temperament in five-year-olds is associated with an increased risk of being overweight.
• The link between externalizing temperament and breakfast habits at this early age warrants further investigation into mediating mechanisms.
• Parental influence on eating patterns does not fully explain the observed temperament-breakfast habit association.