E-Paper
'Unsafe' surroundings could make children overweight
Children who live in surroundings their parents feel are unsafe may become overweight, says a study.
Children who live in surroundings their parents feel are unsafe may become overweight, according to a US study.
The study by researchers at the University of Michigan found that children in the least 'safe' places were four times as likely as those in the most safe to be overweight.
In the US, almost 16 percent of six to 11-year-olds are overweight. In Britain, the number of six to 15-year-olds who are overweight has tripled since the early 1990s, reported the online edition of BBC News.
The researchers, led by Julie Lumeng, looked at data from 768 children and their families of 10 areas across America.
Parents completed questionnaires that assessed how safe they thought their areas were at the time their children were in first grade - when they were aged six.
The ratings were divided into quarters, with the first quartile perceived as the least safe and the fourth as safest.
Their children's height and weight had been measured in the laboratory when they were four-and-a half years old and again the spring of the first-grade year in school, when their average age was seven.
Body mass index (BMI) was calculated by dividing their weight in kilograms by the square of their height in meters.
The researchers found that 17 percent of children living in the first quartile were overweight, compared with 10 percent in the second quartile, 13 percent in the third quartile and only four percent of children living in the fourth, safest quartile.
This link was not affected by other factors such as the education levels or marital status of the children's mothers, racial or ethnic backgrounds or participation in after-school activities.
The study published in the Archives of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine suggests more attention should be paid to the affect surroundings had on children's health.
For the individual physician, these results suggest the need to understand the character of a child's neighbourhood when making recommendations for lifestyle and activity changes aimed at obesity prevention and treatment, the researchers said.
