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Externality, environment, and obesity in children
Insights
Childhood obesity risk is linked to external responsiveness and socioeconomic status. Obese boys were most common in lower socioeconomic groups with high external responsiveness, suggesting environmental and sensory factors influence weight gain.
Area of Science:
- Child Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Obesity Research
Background:
- Childhood obesity is a significant public health concern.
- External responsiveness and environmental factors are hypothesized to influence excessive weight gain.
- Understanding these interactions is crucial for developing effective interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test the hypothesis that external responsiveness and socioeconomic status jointly predict childhood obesity.
- To investigate the probability hierarchy of obesity based on these combined factors.
- To identify specific child profiles at higher risk for obesity.
Main Methods:
- Studied 48 white boys (24 obese, 24 average-weight) with a mean age of 9 years, 5 months.
- Assessed auditory responsivity using an auditory distraction task.
- Measured visual responsivity with Kagan's Matching Familiar Figures Test and used socioeconomic status as an environmental indicator.
Main Results:
- The highest prevalence of obesity was found in lower-socioeconomic boys with high external responsiveness.
- Lower socioeconomic status combined with internal responsiveness also showed a higher obesity percentage.
- Middle-socioeconomic boys with high external responsiveness had a notable obesity percentage.
Conclusions:
- External responsiveness and socioeconomic status are significant predictors of childhood obesity.
- A combination of lower socioeconomic status and high external responsiveness presents the highest risk for obesity in boys.
- Intervention strategies may need to consider both environmental and sensory processing factors in childhood obesity.
Abstract:
On the assumption that external responsiveness and environmental characteristics jointly determine whether a child will achieve an excessive weight gain, perpetuating and maintaining obesity, probability hierarchy was hypothesized and tested. Ss of the study were 24 obese and 24 average-weight, white boys, mean age 9 years, 5 months. An auditory distraction task and Kagan's Matching Familiar Figures Test were used to measure auditory and visual responsivity to external cues, respectively. Socioeconomic status was used as an indicator of the childhood environment. As predicted, the greatest percentages of obese children were observed in the lower-socioeconomic, external group, followed by the lower-socioeconomic, internal group and middle-socioeconomic, external group. The smallest percentage of obese children was observed in the middle-socioeconomic, internal group.