Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 27, 2025

Breakfast Habits among Schoolchildren in the City of Uruguaiana, Brazil
Published on: July 29, 2020
Cross-lagged associations between behaviour problems and obesity in head start preschoolers
Tiffany L Martoccio1, Neda Senehi2, Holly E Brophy-Herb3
1Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland College Park, College Park, Maryland.
Background:
Behaviour problems and obesity are related but research findings have been inconclusive regarding the direction of effects.
Objectives:
This study examined the cross-lagged associations between behaviour problems, body mass index (BMI) and obesity in preschoolers, and whether sex modified these associations.
Methods:
Repeated measures of teacher-reported externalizing (EXT) and internalizing behaviour problems (clinically significant T scores were >90th percentile), BMI z-scores (BMI-Z) and obesity status (BMI ≥95th for age and sex) were assessed in the fall (T1) and spring (T2) of the school year in Head Start preschoolers (N = 423). Associations were examined with cross-lagged modelling.
Results:
Prospective paths from T1 clinically significant EXT to both T2 BMI-Z (β = .05) and obesity (β = .18) were significant. There was no evidence that T1 BMI-Z or obesity preceded T2 behaviour problems. However, sex-specific models indicated that T1 BMI-Z was prospectively associated with higher T2 EXT for boys (β = .13), but not girls. T1 EXT was predictive of subsequent BMI-Z (β = .09) and obesity (β = .33) at T2 for girls only.
Conclusion:
Findings suggest that behaviour problems, particularly externalizing behaviours, are prospectively related to childhood obesity, and early prevention methods should reflect sex-specific modifications.
Related Concept Videos
Obesity
Cross-Sectional Research
Cause and Effect
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Diagnostic Criteria and Symptoms
To diagnose ADHD, symptoms must manifest before age 12 and be evident across multiple settings....
Conduct Disorder
Regression Toward the Mean

