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How does the UK childcare energy-balance environment influence anthropometry of children aged 3-4 years? A cross-sectional exploration

Hesketh, KR; Benjamin-Neelon, SE; van Sluijs, EMF; (2018) How does the UK childcare energy-balance environment influence anthropometry of children aged 3-4 years? A cross-sectional exploration. BMJ Open , 8 (7) , Article e021520. 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-021520. Green open access

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Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To assess the association between time spent in care, the childcare energy-balance environment, and preschool-aged children's body mass index z-score (z-BMI), waist-to-height ratio (WHR) and sum of skinfold thickness (SST). DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Children aged 3-4 years were recruited from 30 childcare centres in Cambridgeshire (UK) in 2013. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Objectively measured height and weight was used to calculate z-BMI; waist circumference and height were used to generate WHR; subscapular and tricep skinfolds were used to calculate SST. Associations between childcare attendance, the nutrition, physical activity, and overall childcare environment, and three anthropometric outcomes were explored using two-level hierarchical regression models, adjusting for demographic and family based confounders. RESULTS: Valid data were available for 196 children (49% female). Time spent in care, the nutrition, physical activity and overall childcare environment were not associated with children's z-BMI, WHR and SST. CONCLUSIONS: Childcare environment and level of attendance were not associated with UK preschool-aged children's anthropometry. The childcare environment has been central to intervention efforts to prevent/reduce early childhood obesity, yet other factors, including child-level, family level, wider environmental and policy-level factors warrant substantial attention when considering obesity prevention strategies for young children.

Type: Article
Title: How does the UK childcare energy-balance environment influence anthropometry of children aged 3-4 years? A cross-sectional exploration
Location: England
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-021520
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2018-021520
Language: English
Additional information: © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted. This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt and build upon this work, for commercial use, provided the original work is properly cited. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Keywords: anthropometry, childcare environment, nutrition, physical activity, preschool
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health > Population, Policy and Practice Dept
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10053180
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