Social and physical environmental factors and child overweight in a sample of American and Czech school-aged children: a pilot study.
OBJECTIVE
To compare environmental factors that influence body mass index for age (BMI-for-age) between a sample of American and Czech school-aged children.


METHODS
Pilot study. A parent questionnaire and school visits were used to collect data from parents and children.


METHODS
Public schools in 1 American and 2 Czech cities.


METHODS
Forty-five American and 97 Czech 4(th)- through 6(th)-graders and their parents.


METHODS
Parenting style, food socialization and preparation practices, healthful food availability, and children's BMI-for-age were measured.


METHODS
Factors from the parental scales were derived using factor analysis. Independent t tests compared environmental factors between American and Czech families. A regression model was used to identify environmental variables associated with BMI-for-age.


RESULTS
American parents used authoritative parenting style and positive food socialization practices more often than Czech parents (P <.001). Availability of healthful food and parental involvement in food preparation were higher (P <.001) in Czech households. Positive encouraging socialization practices, less frequent use of negative explanations, and a greater availability of vegetables were associated with lower BMI-for-age in the Czech sample of children.


CONCLUSIONS
A future study should focus on identifying environmental factors that influence children's BMI-for-age with a large sample of Czech and American parents and their school-aged children.
Department of Nutritional Sciences, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma 74078, USA. lenka.humenikova@okstate.edu
Lenka
L
Humenikova
Gail E
GE
Gates
D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D018153:Czech Republic / Q000453:epidemiology; D004032:Diet / Q000208:ethnology / Q000592:standards*; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012919:Social Behavior; D012923:Social Class; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology