The problem of obesity in children and adolescents is one that has many potential causes. In the study conducted by Dowda et al. (2001), the researchers attempted to assess the connection between weight in the 8-to 16-year-old group, vigorous physical activity, television consumption, and family environment. The researchers used a number of age- and sex-specific markers to ensure that the individuals involved in the study were properly categorized based on their weight and body composition, rather than merely using the Body Mass Index (BMI) calculation, which can be anomalous for youth (Dowda, Ainsworth, Addy et al., 2001).
Dowda, Ainsworth, Addy et al. (2001) set forth to discover the correlation between family attitudes towards activity, participation in vigorous physical activity, and television consumption within the family to the obesity rates of youth (Dowda, Ainsworth, Addy et al., 2001). To determine the correlation between these factors, the researchers used a cross-sectional analysis of data gathered from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (Dowda, Ainsworth, Addy et al., 2001). Certain ethnic groups and ages were oversampled from the data to ensure that relevant and accurate information was obtained regarding individuals from those ethnic and age groups. For example, non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black, and Mexican-American families were contained in the group that was over-sampled for the study (Dowda, Ainsworth, Addy et al., 2001).
According to Dowda, Ainsworth, Addy et al. (2001), the researchers “used χ2 analyses to determine differences, by sex, in physical activity behaviors, television watching, and percentage overweight, and t tests to determine differences in age, weight indexes, family size, and poverty index between the weight groups. Crude odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to examine associations between weight status of the youth and demographic characteristics, vigorous physical activity, participation on sport teams and in exercise programs, television watching, and the mother's and father's weight status.” The researchers, using these methods, determined that there is significant statistical proof to suggest that the familial environment plays a fundamental role in the weight profile of the children in the family. This means that if children are born into families with heavily sedentary lifestyles, the children are likely to grow up partaking in similar lifestyles; they are likely to become overweight due to the habits and lifestyle choices that they see their parents make (Dowda, Ainsworth, Addy et al., 2001).
The study also noted, interestingly, that family environment plays more of a role in the chances of a child being overweight than that child’s participation in vigorous exercise (Dowda, Ainsworth, Addy et al., 2001). A child with one or more overweight parents was significantly more likely to become overweight themselves, according to the bulk of the research. This study suggests that a positive family environment is one of, if not the most, important things for children who are struggling with obesity from a young age (Dowda, Ainsworth, Addy et al., 2001).
References
Dowda, M., Ainsworth, B., Addy, C., Saunders, R. and Riner, W. (2001). Environmental influences, physical activity, and weight status in 8-to 16-year-olds. Archives of pediatrics \& adolescent medicine, 155 (6), p. 711.
