Childcare in infancy and later obesity: A narrative review of longitudinal studies

Purpose of Review The purpose of this review was to summarize the current literature on the longitudinal relationship between non-parental childcare during infancy and later obesity. Recent Findings Eleven studies met the inclusion criteria, comprising 74 associations relevant to the review. Studies were highly heterogeneous in terms of defining childcare, categorizing different types of childcare, assessing obesity, and age at measurement of outcome and exposure. Most of the associations were either non-significant (42 associations, 57%) or showed a significant association between increased exposure to childcare and greater obesity (30 associations, 41%). There were very few examples of associations indicating that childcare was associated with lower obesity. Summary There is limited research on the longitudinal relationship between childcare in infancy and later obesity. Existing studies showed mixed results, similar to recent reviews reporting on cross-sectional studies and older ages. The different definitions of childcare and wide variety of measures of exposure make comparisons between studies challenging

Relationship between early childhood non-parental childcare and diet, physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and sleep: a systematic review of longitudinal studies

The rising prevalence of childhood obesity is a global public health concern. Evidence suggests that exposure to non-parental childcare before age six years is associated with development of obesity, diet, and activity behaviours (physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and sleep). However, findings are inconsistent and mostly from cross-sectional studies, making it difficult to identify the direction of causation in associations. This review identified and synthesised the published research on longitudinal associations between non-parental childcare during early childhood, diet, and activity behaviours. Seven databases were searched, and results were independently double-screened through title/abstract and full-text stages. Included studies were evaluated for risk of bias. Of the 18,793 references screened, 13 met eligibility criteria and were included in the review. These presented results on 89 tested childcare/outcome associations, 63 testing diet outcomes (59% null, remainder mixed), and 26 testing activity behaviour outcomes (85% null, remainder mixed). The scarce available literature indicates little and mixed evidence of a longitudinal association. This reflects a paucity of research, rather than clear evidence of no effect. There is an urgent need for studies investigating the longitudinal associations of non-parental childcare on diet and activity behaviours to assess potential lasting effects and mechanisms; whether and how effects vary by provider; and differences by intensity, duration, and population sub-groups

Correlation coefficients between measures of interest in infants and intended reproductive timing.

<p>p<0.05.</p><p>¹ PT: Preference Task.</p><p>² CPTTAcc: the difference in accuracy of remembering infant versus adult faces during the unexpected recognition part of the Count the Purple Triangles Task.</p><p>³ CPTTTime: the difference in time (milliseconds) spent searching for purple triangles when a baby is on the screen compared to when an adult is on the screen during the Count the Purple Triangles Task.</p

Childhood Adversity Accelerates Intended Reproductive Timing in Adolescent Girls without Increasing Interest in Infants

<div><p>Women experiencing greater childhood adversity exhibit faster reproductive trajectories. One possible psychological mechanism underlying this phenomenon is an increased interest in infants. Interest in infants is thought to be an adaptation important for successful rearing as it motivates the acquisition of caretaking skills. We investigated the relationships between childhood adversity, intended reproductive timing and interest in infants in a sample of English adolescent girls. Specifically we sought to investigate the relationship between 1) childhood adversity and intended reproductive timing; 2) childhood adversity and interest in infants; and 3) intended reproductive timing and interest in infants. Additionally we explored different methods of measuring interest in infants using self-reported fondness for babies, a forced choice adult versus infant paper-based preference task and a novel computer based attention task using adult and infant stimuli. In total 357 girls aged nine to 14 years participated in the study, which took place in schools. Participants completed the two interest in infants tasks before moving on to a childhood adversity questionnaire. Girls with more childhood adversity reported earlier ideal ages at parenthood. We found some evidence that, contrary to our predictions, girls with less childhood adversity were more interested in infants. There was no relationship between intended reproductive timing and interest in infants. The different measurements for interest in infants were only weakly related, if at all, highlighting the complexity of measuring this construct. Our findings suggest that rather than interest in infants being a mechanism for the effect of childhood adversity on early reproductive timing it might instead be an indicator of future reproductive strategies.</p></div

Results of a multivariate GLM for the childhood adversity variables plus age on the set of interest in infants measures.

<p>ηp^{2 1}: Partial eta squared. This is the proportion of variation not accounted for by other variables that is captured by the named variable.</p

Summary table of the study measures.

<p>¹ PT refers to Preference Task.</p><p>² CPTT refers to Count the Purple Triangles Task.</p><p>³ Mother Absence and Timing of Mother absence were not used in the analysis because only 5% of the participants had experienced this event.</p><p>⁴ This consisted of two categories for Timing of Father Absence: 1) 0 to 5 years, 2) 6 years to 14 years.</p

The 10 most popular news websites in the UK in January 2013 and whether they met the inclusion criteria.

<p>The 10 most popular news websites in the UK in January 2013 and whether they met the inclusion criteria.</p

Awareness and presence of hypertension by three markers of socio-economic position, Scottish Health Survey, 2008–11.

<p>¹totals may vary due to rounding from the application of weighting</p><p>Awareness and presence of hypertension by three markers of socio-economic position, Scottish Health Survey, 2008–11.</p

Participant characteristics and demographics.

<p>¹totals may vary due to application of weighting</p><p>Participant characteristics and demographics.</p

Socio-economic differences in awareness of hypertension in those in whom it is present, Scottish Health Survey, 2008–11.

<p>¹adjusted for smoking, alcohol consumption, diet, level of physical activity, BMI, self-reported general health, access, ethnicity, age, sex and living alone</p><p>Socio-economic differences in awareness of hypertension in those in whom it is present, Scottish Health Survey, 2008–11.</p