Beyond nutrition? Childhood obesity linked to parental divorce

18 Jun 2019 --- As the battle against childhood obesity continues, research is increasingly identifying wide-ranging obesity risk factors that could be targeted through early intervention or policies. Along these lines, the amount of energy used by the brain in childhood, as well as familial considerations such as parental divorce have been identified as potential mitigating factors in children becoming obese, new research has found. Obesity continues to be the most prevalent nutritional disorder among children and adolescents globally, according to experts, and a large burden for society.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), obesity rates are rising worldwide. Global obesity numbers have nearly doubled since 1980 and more than 40 million children under the age of five were overweight in 2011. Excess body weight was responsible for roughly 4 percent of cancers worldwide in 2012, and that number is likely to rise, an American Cancer Society peer-reviewed study found last year.

A recent London School of Economics (LSE) study noted the importance of family context in children’s health and called for policies to further protect children and families. Their study found the body mass index (BMI) of children of separated parents is significantly higher in comparison to children whose families stay intact, with an especially strong association if the parents’ divorce occurs before the children reach the age of six. The findings support studies that have found parental separation is more detrimental if it occurs when the child is young.

The study used data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study, tracking the lives of nearly 8,000 children born between 2000 and 2002, with the first data collected at around 9 months old and then at four stages (at ages 3, 5, 7 and 11 years). Within the sample, 1,573 children (approximately 20 percent) experienced parental separation. By monitoring the children over an extended period of their childhood, the study analyzed the effects of divorce on physical health as a longer-term process, rather than a comparison at a fixed point in time.

“Weight management interventions that are school-based are only of limited help if the family context is not taken into account. A divorce is a stressful event that generates constraints on resources in the families. Weight management interventions require time and financial resources too. Thus, our findings contribute to the discussion that families who undergo divorce need support in terms of resources, at the very least,” Dr. Berkay Özcan, Associate Professor from LSE’s Department of Social Policy, tells NutritionInsight.

“We show that the family context is crucially important for children’s health and we need policies that support children and families which are undergoing a break-up,” he says.

Further research could include measuring exercise and food intake to see whether children whose parents undergo divorce have differences in such behaviors, note the researchers. These could tease out resources versus stress differences, Özcan adds.

Meanwhile, a US study recently sought to investigate the link between the energy demands of the brain and obesity risk in children. The researchers propose that variation in the energy needs of brain development across kids – in terms of the timing, intensity and duration of energy use – could influence patterns of energy expenditure and weight gain.

“We all know that how much energy our bodies burn is an important influence on weight gain,” says Kuzawa, Professor of Anthropology in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and a Faculty Fellow with the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern. “When kids are five, their brains use almost half of their bodies’ energy. And yet, we have no idea how much the brain’s energy expenditure varies between kids. This is a huge hole in our understanding of energy expenditure.”

“A major aim of our paper is to bring attention to this gap in understanding and to encourage researchers to measure the brain’s energy use in future studies of child development, especially those focused on understanding weight gain and obesity risk,” she adds.

The researchers ultimately conclude that it is plausible that increased energy expenditure by the brain could be an unanticipated benefit to early child development programs, which, of course, have many other demonstrated benefits. Therefore, early life interventions such as pre-school attendance could have long-term weight benefits.

What does this mean for preventing obesity?
Overall, it is clear that it is crucial to consider other factors such as family context and early life experiences in addition to diet when attempting to reduce rising obesity rates. Other studies have highlighted the importance of mitigating childhood obesity through direct intervention with diet and nutritional intake.

According to Public Health England (PHE), by the age of ten, children have already exceeded the maximum recommended sugar intake for an 18-year-old. This is based on their total sugar consumption from the age of two. The figures informed a PHE campaign which encouraged families to “make a swap when you next shop” in a bid to cut sugar consumption and renew focus on sugar reduction as a method to tackle childhood obesity. 

The Change4Life campaign, launched earlier this year, encouraged families to make swaps to cut sugar. A higher-sugar yogurt (for example split-pot) exchanged for a lower sugar one halves a child’s sugar intake from six cubes of sugar to three, for example. Making these swaps every day could remove around 2,500 sugar cubes per year from a child’s diet. 

Despite industry professionals largely applauding the Change4Life move, they advocate that more can still be done. Stricter regulations regarding labeling, advertising and taxes on sugar-laden foods are all possible avenues, for example.

Meanwhile, a Yale School of Public Health and the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at the University of Connecticut study notes that school-based nutrition programs and recommendations promote healthier eating habits and result in a lower body mass index (BMI) among middle schoolers. 

Published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, the study found that students from schools with improved nutritional policies and programs had healthier BMI track-records and better eating habits than their peers from schools lacking dietary programs. The study followed 600 middle school students from 12 New Haven, Connecticut, US, schools for five years.   

Tackling childhood obesity clearly requires a multi-pronged approach that targets children in a variety of settings. Being overweight or obese early in life contributes to a number of health issues across one’s lifespan, including hypertension, diabetes and depression, all of which may shorten life expectancy, so reducing levels should remain a priority. 

By Laxmi Haigh