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Risk factors of obesity in preschool children in an urban area in China

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Abstract

To assess risk factors of childhood obesity, we carried out a case–control study in ten kindergartens in Changsha, the capital city in the Chinese province of Hunan, between July 1 and December 31, 2007. Height and weight measurements were obtained from annual physical examinations for children attending these kindergartens. Obesity was defined according to the International Obesity Task Force cutoff for body mass index (BMI). For each obese child, one child with normal BMI, matched by kindergarten class, sex, age (within 3 months), and height (within 3 cm) were chosen as controls. The parents of the study subjects were asked to complete a questionnaire about their children, including perinatal factors, infant feeding, and current lifestyle factors. Univariate analysis was performed first to compare the distribution of risk factors between cases and controls. Conditional logistic regression analysis was used to assess independent risk factors of childhood obesity. A total of 162 subjects (81 pairs of cases and controls) were included in the final analysis. The results showed that the adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for childhood obesity were 8.88 (2.41–32.70), 5.23 (1.24–22.04), 10.96 (2.08–21.64), and 6.72 (1.55–29.12), respectively, for macrosomia, cesarean delivery, early solid foods initiation (<4 months), and fetal musical education. We conclude that macrosomia, cesarean delivery, early initiation of solid foods, and fetal musical education are associated with increased risk of obesity in preschool children in urban China.

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Acknowledgements

Dr. Wen is a recipient of the Ontario Women’s Health Council–Institute of Gender and Health of CIHR Mid Career Award. Dr Walker is a new investigator of CIHR. This work was supported in part by Hunan Ministry of Science and Technology in China (2007FJ3083). We thank the children, the parents, and staff of the participating kindergartens in Changsha, China for their support, and Drs. Honghong Wang and Lesan Wang for assistance in data analysis.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Nursing, Central South University, 172 Tong Zi Po Road, Changsha, Hunan, 410013, China

    Leshan Zhou, Guoping He & Jingping Zhang

  2. OMNI Research Group, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, 501 Smyth Road, Ottawa, ON, K1H 8L6, Canada

    Rihua Xie, Mark Walker & Shi Wu Wen

  3. Clinical Epidemiology Program, University of Ottawa, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, 501 Smyth Road, Ottawa, ON, K1H 8L6, Canada

    Rihua Xie, Mark Walker & Shi Wu Wen

  4. Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, 501 Smyth Road, Ottawa, ON, K1H 8L6, Canada

    Shi Wu Wen

  5. School of Public Health, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China

    Shi Wu Wen

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  1. Leshan Zhou
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  2. Guoping He
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  3. Jingping Zhang
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  4. Rihua Xie
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  5. Mark Walker
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  6. Shi Wu Wen
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Correspondence to Shi Wu Wen.

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Zhou, L., He, G., Zhang, J. et al. Risk factors of obesity in preschool children in an urban area in China. Eur J Pediatr 170, 1401–1406 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-011-1416-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-011-1416-7

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