title: The effect of prenatal and postnatal care on childhood obesity.
abstract: Childhood obesity continues to be a major public health problem in the United States. If this problem is unresolved, some children will be at risk for disorders such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and cancer and will become a high economic and social burden for society. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, Child and Young Adult sample (N = 6,643), this study examined the relationship between the effect of pre- and postnatal characteristics and obesity. The findings of this study show that the probability of childhood obesity can be lessened if pregnant women do not smoke and do not gain significant pregnancy-related weight. Moreover, breast feeding and health insurance were also found to be correlated to avoiding childhood obesity.
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA. michael_seipel@byu.edu
authors.forename: Michael M O
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Seipel
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shafer
mesh_terms: D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002648:Child; D002656:Child Day Care Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007348:Insurance, Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016015:Logistic Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011181:Postnatal Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000453:epidemiology; D011634:Public Health; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology