Family poverty and its link to child nutrition and possible overweight

Early infancy and childhood are critical periods in the shaping of lifetime weight development. There is a critical period in the development of children under two years of age when the risk of malnutrition, overweight and nutrient deficiencies increase, if diet, practices and supplementation are not appropriate. In addition, lower socioeconomic status in adolescence is associated with higher BMI decades later.

In Latin America, the whole food system and diet is changing. A major shift has taken place in the availability, convenience and consumption of ready-to-eat, ready-to-heat, processed and packaged foods and beverages. They contribute to the increase in overweight and obesity. The quality of diets varies according to household purchasing power and neighbourhoods. Healthy foods are often more expensive and less accessible.

A barrier to eating a healthy diet is the inability to afford it

A large proportion of children from wealthier households and children living in urban areas have diets that meet the nutritional recommendations, unlike children from the lowest wealth class or those living in rural areas. A barrier to eating a varied and healthy diet is the inability to afford it. Even for infant children, there are significant differences in diets by neighbourhood and wealth.

Studies show that in Mexico, a large proportion of poor households have access to enough food to meet their energy needs, but the diet is often of poor quality and nutrient-poor. In Chile, on the other hand, food consumption is adequate, but food is not sufficiently varied.

There is a link between ethnicity, socioeconomic status and obesity.

Children from ethnic minorities are at significantly higher risk of unhealthy weight gain. Children from ethnic minorities, who often live in poor neighbourhoods with fewer healthy food options and fewer opportunities to exercise and play in parks and playgrounds, are at higher risk of poverty and isolation. This means that there is a link between ethnicity, socioeconomic status and obesity. The association between socio-economic status and unhealthy weight development is weakened by other factors such as maternal nutritional status and maternal education.

Early exposure to financial hardship increases the risk of overweight

Food insecurity is when a person cannot afford to eat enough and does not know when the next meal will be available. Food insecurity is a major problem in America, affecting 44 million people each year, 13 million of whom are children. Food insecurity is known to have a significant impact on health and well-being.

Life course studies show that early exposure to financial hardship in life increases the risk of overweight or obesity in adulthood, regardless of adult socio-economic status. Annual poverty statistics from age 0 to 16 years distinguish four childhood poverty pathways: persistent poverty, early childhood poverty, declining poverty, and poverty-free.

 

 

Those groups with persistent poverty and early childhood poverty have a higher risk of adult overweight or obesity than the poverty-free group. The risk of overweight or obesity is not significantly different between the persistent poverty group and the early childhood poverty group. Declining poverty in the absence of early childhood poverty does not significantly increase the risk of adult obesity.

Parental income and maternal education are associated with family eating habits

In low-income countries, household wealth and maternal education have been found to be associated with childhood overweight, while in high-income countries, overweight appears to be more prevalent in low socioeconomic status and less educated groups. The results are inconsistent in middle-income countries, such as Latin America, where rapid changes in the food environment have occurred, leading to an increase in overweight. In most Latin American countries, less educated women were more overweight, but child obesity also increased as maternal educational attainment and wealth increased.

Lower socio-economic parents are less likely to model healthy eating habits, less sensitive to children’s hunger and satiety cues and more likely to use food as a reward or comfort compared to higher socio-economic parents. Parental feeding strategies are both associated with emotional overeating. There is evidence that parents from lower socioeconomic status are more likely to use food to calm their child’s emotional states. Parents’ emotional eating behaviour teaches the child to use food as a coping mechanism for emotional stress.

In addition, for children from low socioeconomic backgrounds, a longer night’s sleep predicted a lower body fat percentage and sleep problems predicted a higher waist circumference and risk of overweight or obesity. In contrast, longer night sleep predicted lower BMI and reduced risk of overweight or obesity in all children regardless of socioeconomic background.

 

 

Authors

Saranda Hakanpää
Public health nursing student
Turku University of Applied Sciences

Tiina-Tuulia Kaukonen
Public health nurse
Turku University of Applied Sciences

Noora Lehto
Public health nurse
Turku University of Applied Sciences

Maika Kummel
PhD, Principal lecturer, Public health nurse
Turku University of Applied Sciences

 

 

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