Adult ; Body Mass Index* ; Child, Preschool ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Female ; Health Behavior* ; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Humans ; Male ; Models, Statistical* ; Mothers ; Obesity/epidemiology* ; Parenting* ; Regression Analysis ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Risk Factors ; Social Environment ; Surveys and Questionnaires
Keywords
obesity ; preschooler ; quantile regression
Abstract
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate Korean preschoolers' obesity-related factors through an ecological approach and to identify Korean preschoolers' obesity-related factors and the different effects of ecological variables on body mass index and its quantiles through an ecological approach.
METHODS: The study design was cross-sectional. Through convenience sampling, 241 cases were collected from three kindergartens and seven nurseries in the Seoul metropolitan area and Kyunggi Province in April 2013 using self-administered questionnaires from preschoolers' mothers and homeroom teachers.
RESULTS: Results of ordinary least square regression analysis show that mother's sedentary behavior (p < .001), sedentary behavior parenting (p = .039), healthy eating parenting (p = .027), physical activity-related social capital (p = .029) were significant factors of preschoolers' body mass index. While in the 5% body mass index distribution group, gender (p = .031), preference for physical activity (p = .015), mother's sedentary behavior parenting (p = .032), healthy eating parenting (p = .005), and teacher's sedentary behavior (p = .037) showed significant influences. In the 25% group, the effects of gender and preference for physical activity were no longer significant. In the 75% and 95% group, only mother's sedentary behavior showed a statistically significant influence (p < .001, p = .012 respectively).
CONCLUSION: Efforts to lower the obesity rate of preschoolers should focus on their environment, especially on the sedentary behavior of mothers, as mothers are the main nurturers of this age group.