Diet, activity, and overweight among preschool-age children enrolled in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.

Title
Diet, activity, and overweight among preschool-age children enrolled in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

Source
Preventing Chronic Disease. 3, (2): 2006.

Parents of 526 children aged 2-4 yr-old enrolled in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) answered questions about their children's food and beverage consumption, television-viewing and computer time, and physical activity, and these data were related to overweight status. Crude and adjusted odds ratios were calculated to test for associations between demographic, consumption and activity variables, and overweight or at risk of overweight (body mass index = 85th percentile for age and sex).

38% of the children were overweight or at risk of overweight. Hispanic and white children were twice as likely as black children to be overweight or at risk of overweight. 58% percent of the children drank more than 1 serving (8-oz) and 30% drank more than 2 servings of fruit juice per day. The children who drank more than 1 serving of non-juice fruit drink per day (30%) had increased odds of being overweight or at risk of overweight. On average, the children spent more than 2x as much time watching television and using computers as they did engaging in physical activity. In multivariate analyses, race and ethnicity as well as physical activity were associated with being overweight or at risk of overweight.

It is concluded that efforts to improve nutrition and prevent overweight in children should focus on the parents of infants and toddlers, and provide them with anticipatory guidance on physical activity for young children and nutrition and food transitions.