Source: USDA/ERS submitted to NRP
OBESITY IN LOW-INCOME MOTHERS AND CHILDREN
Sponsoring Institution
Economic Research Service/USDA
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
USDA GRANT
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0406673
Grant No.
(N/A)
Cumulative Award Amt.
(N/A)
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Oct 1, 1999
Project End Date
Sep 30, 2004
Grant Year
(N/A)
Program Code
[(N/A)]- (N/A)
Recipient Organization
USDA/ERS
1800 M STREET NW
WASHINGTON,DC 20036
Performing Department
ECONOMIC RESEARCH SERVICE
Non Technical Summary
This project will analyze and improve our understanding of the determinants of childhood obesity. Information from this project will be used to identify those infants participating in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) who are most likely to be overweight by 4 years of age.
Animal Health Component
90%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
10%
Applied
90%
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
61050103010100%
Knowledge Area
610 - Domestic Policy Analysis;

Subject Of Investigation
5010 - Food;

Field Of Science
3010 - Economics;
Goals / Objectives
To analyze and improve our understanding of the determinants of childhood obesity. Information from this project will be used to identify those infants participating in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) who are most likely to be overweight by 4 years of age.
Project Methods
This project examines data on women and children in the Ohio and Kentucky WIC programs. The electronic WIC data files contain longitudinal height and weight measurements for both mothers and children and these data are linked to computerized birth certificate data on family members. This allows for: 1) health information in the WIC and birth certificate files to be combined, and 2) mothers to be linked with their children and children to be linked to siblings.

Progress 10/01/99 to 09/30/04

Outputs
Three journal articles based on this project were published in fiscal 2004: "Predicting Preschooler Obesity at Birth: The Role of Maternal Obesity in Early Pregnancy" (Pediatrics), "The Effect of Breast-Feeding with and without Formula Use on the Risk of Obesity at 4 Years of Age" (Obesity Research) and "Neighborhood Playgrounds, Fast Food Restaurants, and Crime: Relationships to Overweight in Low-Income Preschool Children" (Preventive Medicine). This completes the project.

Impacts
The article "Predicting Preschooler Obesity at Birth: The Role of Maternal Obesity in Early Pregnancy" has increased understanding of the factors that affect obesity--a national epidemic. The study found that maternal obesity in early pregnancy more than doubles a child's risk of obesity at ages 2-4. As a direct result of this study, a new nutritional risk criteria--"at risk of becoming overweight,"--was added to the allowable criteria used to establish WIC program eligibility. The new criteria makes low-income children with obese parents eligible for WIC.

Publications

  • Bogen, D., Hanusa, B., Whitaker, R., 2004, "The Effect of Breast-Feeding with and without Formula Use on the Risk of Obesity at 4 Years of Age", Obesity Research, Vol. 12, No. 9, pp.
  • Whitaker, R., 2004, "Predicting Preschooler Obesity at Birth: The Role of Maternal Obesity in Early Pregnancy", Pediatrics, Vol. 114, No. 1, pp. 29-36
  • Burdette, H., Whitaker, R., 2004, "Neighborhood Playgrounds, Fast Food Restaurants, and Crime: Relationships to Overweight in Low-Income Preschool Children", Preventive Medicine, Volume 38, Issue 1, pp. 57-63