Food- and Health-Related Correlates of Self-Reported Body Mass Index Among Low-Income Mothers of Young Children

Objective: To examine how income-related challenges regarding food and health are associated with variation in self-reported maternal body weight among low-income mothers. Design: Cross-sectional design. Setting: Two Northeastern cities. Seven day care centers and a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program outreach project. Participants: Sample of 166 mothers; 67% were overweight or obese, 55% were Hispanic, and 42% reported household food insecurity (HFI). Main Outcome Measures: Maternal self-reported height and weight to calculate body mass index (BMI). Independent variables were food program participation, supermarket use, 8-item food shopping practices scale, HFI, maternal depressive symptoms, and self-rated health. Analysis: Hierarchical multiple regression analysis tested relationships between maternal BMI with the independent variables of interest, adjusting for demographic confounds. Results: Shopping practices to stretch food dollars (P = .04), using community food assistance programs (P \u3c .05), and HFI (P \u3c .04) correlated with heavier maternal BMIs; higher self-rated health corresponded to lower BMIs (P = .004). Conclusions and Implications: Some strategies low-income mothers use to manage food resources are associated with heavier BMIs. Nutrition educators, public health practitioners, and researchers need to collaboratively address the associations between these strategies, food insecurity, poor health, and unhealthy weight

Associations between family food behaviors, maternal depression, and child weight among low-income children

Although low-income children are at greater risk for overweight and obesity than their higher income counterparts, the majority of poor children are not overweight. The current study examined why such variation exists among diverse young children in poor families. Cross-sectional data were collected on 164 low-income, preschool aged children and their mothers living in two Rhode Island cities. Over half of the sample was Hispanic (55%). Mothers completed measures of family food behaviors and depression while trained assistants collected anthropometric data from children at seven day care centers and a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program outreach project. Multivariate analysis of covariance revealed that higher maternal depression scores were associated with lower scores on maternal presence when child eats (P \u3c .05), maternal control of child\u27s eating routines (P \u3c .03), and food resource management skills (P \u3c .01), and with higher scores on child control of snacking (P \u3c .03) and negative mealtime practices (P \u3c .05). Multiple regression results revealed that greater maternal presence whenever the child ate was significantly associated with lower child BMI z scores (β = .166, P \u3c .05). Logistic regression analyses indicated that higher scores on food resource management skills reduced the odds of child overweight (odds ratios = .72–.95, P \u3c .01). Maternal depression did not modify the relationship between family food behaviors and child weight. Overall, caregiver presence whenever a child eats, not just at meals, and better parental food resource management skills may promote healthier weights in low-income preschoolers. Further research is needed to identify the mechanisms that connect caregiver presence and food resource management skills to healthier weights for this age group

Early participation in a prenatal food supplementation program ameliorates the negative association of food insecurity with quality of maternal-infant interaction.

Food insecurity is detrimental to child development, yet little is known about the combined influence of food insecurity and nutritional interventions on child development in low-income countries. We proposed that women assigned to an early invitation time to start a prenatal food supplementation program could reduce the negative influence of food insecurity on maternal-infant interaction. A cohort of 180 mother-infant dyads were studied (born between May and October 2003) from among 3267 in the randomized controlled trial Maternal Infant Nutritional Interventions Matlab, which was conducted in Matlab, Bangladesh. At 8 wk gestation, women were randomly assigned an invitation time to start receiving food supplements (2.5 MJ/d; 6 d/wk) either early (~9 wk gestation; early-invitation group) or at the usual start time (~20 wk gestation; usual-invitation group) for the government program. Maternal-infant interaction was observed in homes with the use of the Nursing Child Assessment Satellite Training Feeding Scale, and food-insecurity status was obtained from questionnaires completed when infants were 3.4-4.0 mo old. By using a general linear model for maternal-infant interaction, we found a significant interaction (P = 0.012) between invitation time to start a prenatal food supplementation program and food insecurity. Those in the usual-invitation group with higher food insecurity scores (i.e., more food insecure) had a lower quality of maternal-infant interaction, but this relationship was ameliorated among those in the early-invitation group. Food insecurity limits the ability of mothers and infants to interact well, but an early invitation time to start a prenatal food supplementation program can support mother-infant interaction among those who are food insecure

Genetic variation in the pleiotropic association between physical activity and body weight in mice

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A sedentary lifestyle is often assumed to lead to increases in body weight and potentially obesity and related diseases but in fact little is known about the genetic association between physical activity and body weight. We tested for such an association between body weight and the distance, duration, and speed voluntarily run by 310 mice from the F₂generation produced from an intercross of two inbred lines that differed dramatically in their physical activity levels.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We used a conventional interval mapping approach with SNP markers to search for QTLs that affected both body weight and activity traits. We also conducted a genome scan to search for relationship QTLs (<it>rel</it>QTLs), or chromosomal regions that affected an activity trait variably depending on the phenotypic value of body weight.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We uncovered seven quantitative trait loci (QTLs) affecting body weight, but only one co-localized with another QTL previously found for activity traits. We discovered 19 <it>rel</it>QTLs that provided evidence for a genetic (pleiotropic) association of physical activity and body weight. The three genotypes at each of these loci typically exhibited a combination of negative, zero, and positive regressions of the activity traits on body weight, the net effect of which was to produce overall independence of body weight from physical activity. We also demonstrated that the <it>rel</it>QTLs produced these varying associations through differential epistatic interactions with a number of other epistatic QTLs throughout the genome.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>It was concluded that individuals with specific combinations of genotypes at the <it>rel</it>QTLs and <it>epi</it>QTLs might account for some of the variation typically seen in plots of the association of physical activity with body weight.</p

Iron, Meat and Health

This article is a summary of the publication “Iron and Health” by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) to the U.K. Government (2010), which reviews the dietary intake of iron and the impact of different dietary patterns on the nutritional and health status of the U.K. population. It concludes that several uncertainties make it difficult to determine dose-response relationships or to confidently characterize the risks associated with iron deficiency or excess. The publication makes several recommendations concerning iron intakes from food, including meat, and from supplements, as well as recommendations for further research

The Strathclyde Evaluation of Children's Active Travel (SE-CAT): study rationale and methods

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Sociodemographic determinants of food security status among first-time WIC participants

This longitudinal study examines determinants of change in household food insecurity among 18 064 first-time, low-income Massachusetts mothers participating in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program. Minority status and initial food security status explained likelihood to remain or become food insecure over time. At the final WIC visit, risk for food insecurity remained 1.6 times higher for blacks and 1.2 times higher for Hispanics and 47% lower for households that were food secure at baseline. Sociodemographic factors interacted with baseline food security status and with race/ethnicity to explain final food security status, suggesting that the mechanisms leading to household food insecurity vary within low-income populations. Copyright © 2011 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited

A Longitudinal Study of Food Insecurity on Obesity in Preschool Children

Background: Obesity and its co-occurrence with household food insecurity among low-income families is a public health concern, particularly because both are associated with later adverse health consequences. Objective: Our aim was to examine the relationship between household food insecurity with and without hunger in infancy and later childhood with weight status at 2 to 5 years. Design: This longitudinal study uses household food-security status, weight, and height data collected at the first infancy and last child (2 to 5 years) Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children visits. Household food security was based on parent/caretaker responses to a four-question subscale of the 18-item Core Food Security Module. Obesity was defined as sex-specific body mass index for age ≥95th percentile. Participants/setting: A diverse (58.6% non-white) low-income sample of 28,353 children participating in the Massachusetts Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (2001-2006); 24.9% of infants and 23.1% of children lived in food-insecure households and 17.1% were obese at their last child visit. Statistical analysis: Multivariate logistic regression analyses assessed the association between household food-security status during the infant and child visits, and risk of preschool obesity, while controlling for child race/Hispanic ethnicity, sex, child and household size, maternal age, education, and prepregnancy weight. Interactions between these covariates and household food-security status were also examined. In cases of multiple comparisons, a Bonferroni correction was applied. Results: Persistent household food insecurity without hunger was associated with 22% greater odds of child obesity (odds ratio=1.22; 95% CI 1.06 to 1.41) compared with those persistently food secure (P\u3c0.05). Maternal prepregnancy weight status modified this association with children of underweight (adjusted odds ratio=3.22; 95% CI 1.70 to 6.11; P=0.003) or overweight/obese (adjusted odds ratio=1.34; 95% CI 1.11 to 1.62; P=0.03) mothers experiencing greater odds of child obesity with persistent household food insecurity without hunger compared with those with persistent household food security. Conclusions: These results suggest that persistent household food insecurity without hunger is prospectively related to child obesity, but that these associations depend on maternal weight status. Vulnerable groups should be targeted for early interventions to prevent overweight and obesity later in life. © 2012 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics