Obesity in Low-income Children Not Linked to Nutrition

Scientists at Iowa State University have completed a study that refutes the prevailing wisdom on why poor children are more likely to be overweight than their affluent counterparts.

The research shows that lack of food is not the underlying cause, although they’re not sure why so many children from low-income families are overweight.

Studies show that nearly one third of American children ages 10-17 are overweight or obese, and that nearly 40 percent of those kids are from low-income households, according to an Associated Press article.

Previous studies on the issue suggested that poor children weren’t getting nutritious food and were instead eating high-calorie junk food, or that kids may have eaten well when money was available, but skipped meals when money was tight, a cycle that would slow metabolism and cause subsequent weight gain.

By challenging these previous theories, researchers hope to encourage more research into the issue.

During their study, the Iowa State University researchers analyzed 1999 data about 1,031 children living in low-income households in Boston, Chicago and San Antonio.  They determined whether the children had enough food for a healthy, active lifestyle, something researchers call food security. They looked at the individual child, instead of their entire household as previous studies had done.

The researchers then asked the children’s mothers whether she had reduced the size of a meal due to lack of food or money, if her child skipped a meal because food wasn’t available and if her child went hungry because she couldn’t afford more food.

Surprisingly, the results showed that while about half of the children in the study were overweight or obese, only about 8 percent weren’t getting enough to eat.

Brenda Lohman, a co-author of the study, told Associated Press the high number of overweight low-income kids is a public health concern. "Understanding why the rates are so high …. is needed," she said.

However, Donna Matheson of Stanford Medical School’s Prevention Research Center told AP  that while the study explores some new elements, it disregards others.  For example, she noted that the research only looked at children who were overweight, not those who were underweight. 

Craig Gundersen, the study’s lead author, told AP that children who didn’t get enough food weren’t more likely to be overweight, even though the two factors often coexisted in the low-income population they studied.

He said the study shows that if the government tries to expand food assistance programs to help children, officials can move forward without worrying about an increase in overweight kids living in poverty.

However, Matheson said she thinks much more research is needed before changes in policy are implemented.  "I don’t think we are there yet in terms of saying what really works," she said.

Susan Stewart, an Iowa State sociology professor involved in the research, said in a statement that most of the research on childhood obesity comes from the medical community, but there should be a closer look at the family and how factors such as stress affect a child’s weight.

"Family life has a lot to do with children’s lives, particularly when it comes to overeating and obesity," she said.

The study is published in February’s issue of the Journal of Nutrition.

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On the Net:

Iowa State University: http://www.iastate.edu/

Journal of Nutrition: http://jn.nutrition.org/