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Cumulative Risk Exposure and Waist Circumference in Preschool-Aged Children: the Mediating Role of Television and Moderating Role of Sex

  • Original Article
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Annals of Behavioral Medicine

Abstract

Background

Children exposed to multiple stressors are more likely to be overweight, but little is known about the mechanisms explaining this association.

Purpose

This cross-sectional study examined whether children exposed to multiple stressors had higher waist circumference, and whether this association was mediated through children’s television time.

Methods

Participants were 319 parent–child dyads. Children were 2–5 years old and had at least one overweight parent (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2). Data were collected at baseline of a larger childhood obesity prevention study and included information on psychosocial stressors (e.g., parenting stress), demographic stressors (e.g., low income), children’s television time, and children’s waist circumference. Two cumulative risk scores were created by summing stressors in each domain (demographic and psychosocial). Mediation and moderated mediation analyses were conducted.

Results

Indirect effects of both cumulative risk scores on waist circumference through television time were not significant; however, moderated mediation analyses found significant moderation by gender. The indirect effects of both risk scores on waist circumference through television time were significant and positive for girls, but near-zero for boys.

Conclusions

Reducing television time should be explored as a strategy for buffering against the negative health effects of exposure to multiple stressors among girls. Longitudinal and intervention research is needed to confirm these results and to identify mediating factors between cumulative risk and body weight among boys.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported in part by a grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (R01 HL 091093). The project was conducted out of the Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, a Prevention Research Center funded through a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U48-DP005017). The findings and conclusions in this journal article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Authors’ Statement of Conflict of Interest and Adherence to Ethical Standards

Authors Grummon, Vaughn, Jones, and Ward declare that they have no conflict of interest. All procedures, including the informed consent process, were conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000.

Study procedures were approved by the Institutional Review Board at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Behavior, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Anna H. Grummon BA, MSPH

  2. Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Amber Vaughn MPH, RD & Dianne S. Ward EdD

  3. Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Deborah J. Jones PhD

  4. Department of Nutrition, Gillings School of Global Public Health, and Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 135 Dauer Drive, 2200 McGavran-Greenberg Hall, CB no. 7461, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-7461, USA

    Dianne S. Ward EdD

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  1. Anna H. Grummon BA, MSPH
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  2. Amber Vaughn MPH, RD
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  3. Deborah J. Jones PhD
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Correspondence to Dianne S. Ward EdD.

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Grummon, A.H., Vaughn, A., Jones, D.J. et al. Cumulative Risk Exposure and Waist Circumference in Preschool-Aged Children: the Mediating Role of Television and Moderating Role of Sex. ann. behav. med. 51, 489–499 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-016-9872-y

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