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Before-school and after-school childcare and children's risk of obesity
P M Shah1, N Sudharsanan2, S A Cunningham1
1Hubert Department of Global Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Insights
Childcare type was not a major factor in childhood obesity, except for Hispanic children in non-relative care. Further research is needed on these specific childcare arrangements and their impact on health outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health
- Public Health
- Child Development
Background:
- In the USA, a significant proportion of school-aged children receive regular care from non-parental figures outside of school hours.
- Understanding the influence of these childcare arrangements on child health is crucial for public health initiatives.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between various before- and after-school childcare arrangements and obesity prevalence in school-aged children.
- To identify specific childcare settings that may pose a risk for childhood obesity.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study - Kindergarten Cohort (1998-1999).
- Analyzed data from 9,617 fifth-grade students collected in spring 2004.
- Employed survey-adjusted logistic regression models to assess the relationship between childcare and obesity.
Main Results:
- Obesity prevalence varied by childcare arrangement, being highest in multi-source care and lowest in non-relative care within the child's or caregiver's home.
- Childcare arrangement was not an independent risk factor for obesity in the general population of fifth graders.
- Hispanic children in non-relative care exhibited significantly higher odds of obesity compared to non-Hispanics in similar arrangements (OR: 5.11).
Conclusions:
- The type of before or after-school childcare is not a significant independent risk factor for obesity in most fifth graders.
- The heightened risk of obesity among Hispanic children in non-relative care warrants further investigation.
- Future research should explore the specific implications of childcare settings for minority ethnic groups and their health outcomes.
Background:
In the USA, half of children are regularly cared for before or after school by someone other than a parent.
Objective:
Describe the relationship between childcare arrangements and obesity among school-aged children.
Methods:
Data are from the fifth-grade wave of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study - Kindergarten Cohort 1998-1999, a nationally representative study of US children who were in kindergarten in 1998-1999 or first grade in 1999, collected in spring 2004 (analytic sample = 9617). We estimated survey-adjusted logistic regression models to examine the association between childcare arrangements before and after school and obesity.
Results:
The prevalence of obesity was highest among fifth graders who received care from multiple sources and lowest among children who received care from adults not related to them in either the child's or the caregiver's home [29.9%, 95% confidence interval {CI}: 18.7%, 44.3%; and 17.3%, 95% CI: 12.1%, 24.0%]. Childcare arrangement was not an independent risk factor for obesity for most children. However, Hispanic children who were cared for by a person who was not a relative had significantly higher odds of obesity compared with non-Hispanics in similar care arrangements (odds ratio: 5.11, 95% CI: 2.00, 13.06).
Conclusion:
Type of childcare before or after school was not an independent risk factor for obesity in most fifth graders, but implications of childcare for Hispanic children should be explored further.
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