title: Relationships between Parental Education and Overweight with Childhood Overweight and Physical Activity in 9-11 Year Old Children: Results from a 12-Country Study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Globally, the high prevalence of overweight and low levels of physical activity among children has serious implications for morbidity and premature mortality in adulthood. Various parental factors are associated with childhood overweight and physical activity. The objective of this paper was to investigate relationships between parental education or overweight, and (i) child overweight, (ii) child physical activity, and (iii) explore household coexistence of overweight, in a large international sample.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were collected from 4752 children (9-11 years) as part of the International Study of Childhood Obesity, Lifestyle and the Environment in 12 countries around the world. Physical activity of participating children was assessed by accelerometry, and body weight directly measured. Questionnaires were used to collect parents' education level, weight, and height.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Maternal and paternal overweight were positively associated with child overweight. Higher household coexistence of parent-child overweight was observed among overweight children compared to the total sample. There was a positive relationship between maternal education and child overweight in Colombia 1.90 (1.23-2.94) [odds ratio (confidence interval)] and Kenya 4.80 (2.21-10.43), and a negative relationship between paternal education and child overweight in Brazil 0.55 (0.33-0.92) and the USA 0.54 (0.33-0.88). Maternal education was negatively associated with children meeting physical activity guidelines in Colombia 0.53 (0.33-0.85), Kenya 0.35 (0.19-0.63), and Portugal 0.54 (0.31-0.96).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results are aligned with previous studies showing positive associations between parental and child overweight in all countries, and positive relationships between parental education and child overweight or negative associations between parental education and child physical activity in lower economic status countries. Relationships between maternal and paternal education and child weight status and physical activity appear to be related to the developmental stage of different countries. Given these varied relationships, it is crucial to further explore familial factors when investigating child overweight and physical activity.
authors.affiliation: African Population and Health Research Center, P.O. Box 10787-00100, Nairobi, Kenya.
authors.forename: Stella K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Muthuri
authors.affiliation: Department of Recreation Management and Exercise Science, Kenyatta University, P. O. Box 43844, Nairobi, 00100, Kenya.|Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, 401 Smyth Road, Ottawa, ON K1H 8L1, Canada.
authors.forename: Vincent O
authors.initials: VO
authors.lastname: Onywera
authors.affiliation: Department of Recreation Management and Exercise Science, Kenyatta University, P. O. Box 43844, Nairobi, 00100, Kenya.|Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, 401 Smyth Road, Ottawa, ON K1H 8L1, Canada.
authors.forename: Mark S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Tremblay
authors.affiliation: Pennington Biomedical Research Center, 6400 Perkins Road, Baton Rouge, LA 70808-4124, United States of America.
authors.forename: Stephanie T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Broyles
authors.affiliation: Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, 401 Smyth Road, Ottawa, ON K1H 8L1, Canada.
authors.forename: Jean-Philippe
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Chaput
authors.affiliation: Department of Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, P. O. Box 3, 00014, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Mikael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fogelholm
authors.affiliation: Pennington Biomedical Research Center, 6400 Perkins Road, Baton Rouge, LA 70808-4124, United States of America.
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: St. Johns Research Institute, 100 Feet Rd, John Nagar, Koramangala, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560034, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kuriyan
authors.affiliation: St. Johns Research Institute, 100 Feet Rd, John Nagar, Koramangala, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560034, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: Anura
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kurpad
authors.affiliation: Division of Exercise Science and Sports Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Anzio Road, Cape Town, 7935, South Africa.
authors.forename: Estelle V
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: Lambert
authors.affiliation: Alliance for Research in Exercise Nutrition and Activity (ARENA), School of Health Sciences, University of South Australia, North Terrace, Adelaide SA 5001, Australia.
authors.forename: Carol
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Maher
authors.affiliation: CIFI2D, Faculdade de Desporto, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Plácido Costa, 91-4200.450, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Maia
authors.affiliation: Centro de Estudos do Laboratório de Aptidão Física de São Caetano do Sul (CELAFISCS), R. Heloísa Pamplona, 269-Fundação, São Caetano do Sul-Sao Paulo, 09520-320, Brazil.
authors.forename: Victor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Matsudo
authors.affiliation: Alliance for Research in Exercise Nutrition and Activity (ARENA), School of Health Sciences, University of South Australia, North Terrace, Adelaide SA 5001, Australia.
authors.forename: Timothy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Olds
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Universidad de los Andes, Carrera Primera 18A-12, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: Olga L
authors.initials: OL
authors.lastname: Sarmiento
authors.affiliation: Department for Health, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath, BA2 7AY, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Martyn
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Standage
authors.affiliation: Department of Kinesiology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 30 Eastman Lane, Amherst, MA 01003-9258, United States of America.|Pennington Biomedical Research Center, 6400 Perkins Road, Baton Rouge, LA 70808-4124, United States of America.
authors.forename: Catrine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tudor-Locke
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Women's and Children's Health Center, 96 Guizhou Road, Heping, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Pei
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Pennington Biomedical Research Center, 6400 Perkins Road, Baton Rouge, LA 70808-4124, United States of America.
authors.forename: Timothy S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Church
authors.affiliation: Pennington Biomedical Research Center, 6400 Perkins Road, Baton Rouge, LA 70808-4124, United States of America.
authors.forename: Peter T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Katzmarzyk
mesh_terms: D001835:Body Weight; D001837:Body Weights and Measures; D002648:Child; D004522:Educational Status; D015444:Exercise; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012307:Risk Factors