Household characteristics and food environments may have the strongest influence on children’s weight, says a USDA report, although no single factor has been identified as the leading contributor to childhood obesity.
Obesity rates among U.S. children more than doubled over the past three decades, says the USDA report by economist Young. The CDC says 17 percent of children ages 2-19 are obese. Rates are higher among black and Hispanic youth, as well as low-income families, and lower among whites. The obesity rate among adults, 37 percent, is roughly double the youth rate.
For the USDA study, Jo used the departments National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey, known as FoodAPS to look at factors that included eating patterns, the nutritional quality of food purchased for a household, financial well-being and demographics. FoodAPS gathered data on food acquisition by 4,826 households during a one-week period between April 2012 and January 2013
“Findings show that children from households with at least one obese child live in disadvantageous environments relative to children from households without any obese children. Children from obese-child households are more likely … to live with parents who are not married, have less education and are financially constrained. They also tend to live in areas with lower access to healthful foods. The number of times children eat breakfast per week is an important correlate of childhood obesity,” wrote Jo. “FoodAPS respondents from obese-child households more frequently cite high food prices and poor flavor of healthful foods as barriers to eating more healthfully.”
“An adverse environment can result in obese parents with low socioeconomic status having obese children, who subsequently grow up to be obese adults themselves. These obese children are likely to enter adulthood with poorer health and socioeconomic status than their non-obese peers.”
According to the analysis of FoodAPS data, the number of times that households ate dinner at home or ate out was not different statistically across household types although children in households without obese children ate breakfast 5 percent more often. The overall nutritional quality of food in both types of households was similar, except children from non-obese-child households eat more seafood and plant proteins, notably from food prepared away from home.
The nonprofit Partnership for a Healthier America says one-third of U.S. youth are obese or overweight. “Not only do childhood health costs exacerbate the problem, it’s worth noting that many weight-related health issues can turn into chronic conditions (such as diabetes and heart disease) as children grow older and dramatically cut short their life expectancy.”