Exposure to intimate partner violence and overweight among children aged six to thirty months

The objective of this article is to investigate the relationship between intimate partner violence (IPV) and overweight in children aged six to thirty months. We conducted a cross-sectional population-based study in Campos Elíseos, Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. IPV was measured using the Brazilian version of the Revised Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS2) and nutritional status was assessed using BMI-for-age z-scores calculated using the Anthro software package. Multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze the relationships of interest. Approximately 52% of children were overweight. Physical IPV against women increased the odds of childhood overweight by 1.7 times (95%CI: 1.01-1.20). Exposure to psychological and physical violence between the couple increased the odds by 1.1 times (95%CI: 1.01-1.20) and 1.4 times (95%CI: 1.16-1.61), respectively. With regard to cumulative violence, the likelihood of overweight increased with the increasing number of violence acts experienced (ORIPV against women: 2.60; 95%CI: 1.34-5.03; ORIPV between couple: 2.53; 95%CI: 1.22-5.28). The findings suggest that IPV influences overweight in children, reinforcing the need for multidisciplinary approaches and interventions to mitigate violence and protect children's nutritional status.