Risk factors for overweight and obesity in children aged 2-6 years.
BACKGROUND
Understanding risk factors that may vary culturally can help improve preventive strategies for obesity. This is the first cross-sectional study aimed to determine the risk factors for overweight/obesity in children aged 2-6 years in a central Anatolian city in Turkey.


METHODS
A total of 1582 children (1351 healthy, 231 overweight/obese) aged 2-6 years were included from the Anthropometry of Turkish Children aged 0-6 years database. Age, gender, birth weight, birth order, mother's age, mother's body mass index (BMI), weight gain of mothers during pregnancy, presence of gestational diabetes, breastfeeding duration, history of formula feeding, mother's and father's education, mother's job, monthly income, smoking at home and physical activity, sleep duration and duration of television (TV) watching of the children were evaluated as independent risk factors. Logistic regression analyses were performed to investigate risk factors for overweight/obesity.


RESULTS
Having a high family income compared to bad [odds ratio (OR)=1.96; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.237-3.106], increased the time of watching TV during the weekend (OR=1.094; 95% CI: 1.032-1.159), and similar physical activity level according to their peers compared to less (OR=2.957; 95% CI: 1.056-8.282) were found to be significantly associated with a higher risk of overweight/obesity in children aged 2-6 years old.


CONCLUSIONS
The early childhood period seems to be important in the establishment of healthy behavioral patterns, especially limitation of TV watching and encouragement of physical activity. Obesogenic environment in families with high incomes need to be revealed.
Department of Pediatrics, Social Pediatrics Unit, Erciyes University Faculty of Medicine, Kayseri.
Meda
M
Kondolot
The Head of Local Health Authority, Talas, Kayseri.
Serpil
S
Poyrazoğlu
The Head of Local Health Authority, Melikgazi, Kayseri.
Duygu
D
Horoz
Department of Public Health, Erciyes University Faculty of Medicine, Kayseri.
Arda
A
Borlu
Department of Pediatrics, Erciyes University Faculty of Medicine, Kayseri.
Canan
C
Altunay
Department of Public Health, Erciyes University Faculty of Medicine, Kayseri.
Elcin
E
Balcı
Department of Biostatistics, Erciyes University Faculty of Medicine, Kayseri.
Ahmet
A
Öztürk
Department of Family Medicine, Erciyes University Faculty of Medicine, Kayseri.
Mümtaz M
MM
Mazıcıoğlu
Department of Pediatric Endocrinology, Erciyes University Faculty of Medicine, Kayseri.
Selim
S
Kurtoğlu
D000886:Anthropometry; D001724:Birth Weight; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology; D015430:Weight Gain
early childhood; obesity; overweight; risk factors