Is overweight at 12 months associated with differences in eating behaviour or dietary intake among children selected for inappropriate bottle use?

Interventions Aimed at Decreasing Obesity in Hispanic Children in the First 1000 Days: A Systematic Review

The prevalence of obesity is higher among Hispanic children than among all other ethnicities, and recent efforts have been focused on addressing this growing disparity. The objective of this review was to examine the evidence for interventions designed to reduce obesity in Hispanic children in the first 1000 days of life and to assess and summarize the effectiveness of the interventions. A literature search was conducted using MEDLINE, Scopus, and PubMed. Included in the review were published studies that evaluated an intervention designed to prevent or reduce obesity in Hispanic children in the first 1000 days of life. Quality was assessed using the GRADE system. Out of 134 citations that were retrieved, 11 articles underwent full-text review, and 5 articles met study inclusion criteria. Only one study was of high quality, and the rest were of low or moderate quality. Three of the studies were lifestyle interventions, and two were educational interventions. Four out of the five interventions led to significant improvements in the outcome measures assessed. Very few published studies tested interventions in the population of Hispanic children ages 0-2 years. Limited evidence does suggest that these interventions may improve behaviors related to factors known to increase the risk for obesity. Future research should focus on designing interventions using common themes observed among successful studies. Further, these studies should also include clinical measures of obesity to further establish their effectiveness.

Acetaminophen, antibiotics, ear infection, breastfeeding, vitamin D drops, and autism: an epidemiological study

BACKGROUND

While many studies have examined environmental risk factors for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), much of the research focus has been on prenatal or perinatal factors. Yet, the postnatal environment may affect the risk of ASD as well.

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether a set of five postnatal variables are associated with ASD. These variables are: acetaminophen exposure, antibiotic exposure, incidence of ear infection, decreased duration of breastfeeding, and decreased consumption of oral vitamin D drops.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

An Internet-based survey was conducted. Participants were parents living in the USA with at least one biological child between 3 and 12 years of age. Potential participants were informed about the survey via postings on social media, websites, and listservs and were offered an opportunity to participate in a raffle as well. Participants were also recruited through the Interactive Autism Network.

RESULTS

There were 1,741 completed survey responses. After exclusions, there remained 1,001 responses associated with children with ASD (cases) and 514 responses associated with children who do not have ASD (controls). In this data set, doses of postnatal acetaminophen (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.016, CI: 1.003-1.032, p=0.026), courses of postnatal antibiotics (aOR 1.103, CI: 1.046-1.168, p<0.001), incidence of postnatal ear infection (aOR 1.137, CI: 1.046-1.236, p=0.003), and decreased duration of breastfeeding (aOR 0.948, CI: 0.932-0.965, p<0.001) are all associated with ASD when adjusted for eight demographic variables. A weak association between oral vitamin D drop exposure and ASD was also found when adjusted for breastfeeding and demographics (aOR 1.025, CI: 0.995-1.056, p=0.102).

CONCLUSION

This study adds to evidence that postnatal acetaminophen use, postnatal antibiotic use, incidence of ear infection, and early weaning are associated with an increased risk of ASD. It also finds that postnatal oral vitamin D drops are weakly associated with ASD when adjusted for breastfeeding and demographics.

Effects of parent and child behaviours on overweight and obesity in infants and young children from disadvantaged backgrounds: systematic review with narrative synthesis

Background

Despite the crucial need to develop targeted and effective approaches for obesity prevention in children most at risk, the pathways explaining socioeconomic disparity in children’s obesity prevalence remain poorly understood.

Methods

We conducted a systematic review of the literature that investigated causes of weight gain in children aged 0–5 years from socioeconomically disadvantaged or Indigenous backgrounds residing in OECD countries. Major electronic databases were searched from inception until December 2015. Key words identified studies addressing relationships between parenting, child eating, child physical activity or sedentary behaviour and child weight in disadvantaged samples.

Results

A total of 32 articles met the inclusion criteria. The Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool quality rating for the studies ranged from 25 % (weak) to 100 % (strong). Studies predominantly reported on relationships between parenting and child weight (n = 21), or parenting and child eating (n = 12), with fewer (n = 8) investigating child eating and weight. Most evidence was from socio-economically disadvantaged ethnic minority groups in the USA. Clustering of diet, weight and feeding behaviours by socioeconomic indicators and ethnicity precluded identification of independent effects of each of these risk factors.

Conclusions

This review has highlighted significant gaps in our mechanistic understanding of the relative importance of different aspects of parent and child behaviours in disadvantaged population groups.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-016-2801-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Differences in modifiable feeding factors by overweight status in Latino infants

PURPOSE

Obesity prevalence remains disproportionally high for young American children from low-socioeconomic and ethnic minorities. Modifiable feeding factors may lead to infant overfeeding and an increased risk for obesity. This study explored differences in modifiable feeding factors by overweight status (>85% weight-for-length) in the first year of life of Latino infants.

METHODS

Data were obtained from a cross-sectional pilot study of 62 low-income immigrant Latina mothers and their infants (ages 4-12 months). Measures included maternal feeding practices, feeding pattern, infant's 24-hour dietary recall, and maternal perception of infant weight. Chi-square and t-tests were used for comparisons between healthy weight and overweight infants.

RESULTS

Birth weight z-scores did not significantly differ by weight status. Overweight status was not associated with maternal feeding practices, feeding pattern or infant dietary intake. A trend toward significance was seen in the maternal perception of infant weight.

CONCLUSION

Overweight infants were similar to healthy weight infants in their birth weight z-scores and supports the premise that modifiable feeding factors are in play and thus targeted early feeding interventions may prove effective in decreasing obesity risk in Latinos.

Prevention of obesity in infancy and early childhood: a National Institutes of Health workshop

Addressing the childhood obesity epidemic continues to be a challenge. Given that once obesity develops it is likely to persist, there has been an increasing focus on prevention at earlier stages of the life course. Research to develop and implement effective prevention and intervention strategies in the first 2 years after birth has been limited. In fall 2013, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases convened a multidisciplinary workshop to summarize the current state of knowledge regarding the prevention of infant and early childhood obesity and to identify research gaps and opportunities. The questions addressed included (1) "What is known regarding risk for excess weight gain in infancy and early childhood?" (2) "What is known regarding interventions that are promising or have been shown to be efficacious?" and (3) "What are the challenges and opportunities in implementing and evaluating behavioral interventions for parents and other caregivers and their young children?"

Bottle and sippy cup use is associated with diet and energy intake in toddlers

The second year of life incorporates a continued shift from a liquid- to solid-based diet. Little is known about the prevalence and dietary impact of bottle and sippy cup use. This paper describes associations between percent of energy consumed via drinking containers (bottles and sippy cups combined) and dietary outcomes, between 1 and 2 years of age. This observational study recruited n = 299 low-income, nutrition programme clients from the Bronx, NY, whose 12 month olds consumed ≥ 2 non-water bottles per day. The main exposure variable was percent of energy intake via drinking containers (PEDC), dichotomized at the median into low-percent-energy-from-drinking-containers (LOW-C) and high-percent-energy-from-drinking-containers (HIGH-C) groups, assessed quarterly, for 1 year. We report 24-hour dietary recall nutrient and food serving data by LOW-C vs. HIGH-C. We employed linear mixed models to study associations between PEDC and nutrient intake. PEDC decreased from 52% to 33% between 1 and 2 years of age in both groups. The LOW-C group had higher intake of energy, dietary fibre, iron and sodium, grains, protein-rich foods and sweets. Conversely, LOW-C group had lower intake of Vitamin D and calcium vs. the HIGH-C group. PEDC was inversely associated with total energy intake in a model controlling for baseline age, baseline-weight-for-length and gender (β = -5.8, P = 0.029, 95% confidence interval (-10.96, -0.6). Lower bottle and sippy cup use had significant, albeit mixed association with diet quality in the second year of life, and was associated with higher energy intake. Evidence-based guidelines are needed to determine the appropriate use of those feeding methods.