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Quality of Early Maternal-Child Relationship and Risk of Adolescent Obesity
Insecure attachment with low maternal sensitivity at ages 2 and 3 years was associated with teenage obesity.
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Sample
- N: 97
- Subject Ages: Birth to 12.0 and 15.9 years
- Location: United States, nine states
- SES: Diverse, based on the NICHD study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD)
- Eligibility: Children included in the NICHD study
- Additional:
- Exclusion criteria - maternal age less than 18, non-singleton birth, lack of English fluency, post-birth hospitalization of more than seven days or plans for adoption
Hypothesis
- Obesity in adolescents is related to the quality of the early maternal-child relationship.
Variables Measured, Instruments Used
- Adolescent obesity - BMI
- Early maternal-child relationship quality - combined score from:
- Direct observation at 15, 24, and 36 months
- Attachment security - the Strange Situation
- Additional variables: Mother’s educational attainment, racial ethnic group, birth weights, household size and income at 24 months, mother’s weight and height when child was 15 years
Design—Longitudinal
']Findings
- Low maternal sensitivity at 15, 24 and 36 months was associated with increased odds of adolescent obesity.
- Insecure attachment was associated with increased odds of adolescent obesity at 24 months but not at 15 months and 36 months.
- At 24 and 36 months, the combination of low maternal sensitivity and insecure attachment was associated with greater odds of adolescent obesity than was either on their own.
Limitations
- Causality cannot be determined by observational studies.
- Measure of maternal obesity was only assessed when the children were teenagers but not when they were younger.
- Cannot exclude the possibility of selection bias
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