Childhood Obesity: Is Day Care A Contributing Factor?
December 18, 2012Childhood Obesity: Is Day Care A Contributing Factor?
Childhood obesity is a serious problem in our society today. If you have kids between the ages of 1.5 and 4 years in day care, the results of a new study conducted by researchers at the Université de Montréal. and Sainte-Justine University Hospital will be of great interest to you. Published in The Journal of Pediatrics, a study 1,649 families has indicated that children between the ages of 1.5 to 4 years who attend day care versus those who do not, are 50 percent more likely to be overweight when they reach the ages of 4-10. Researchers monitored the children in the study over a six year period, measuring their height and weight on a regular basis.
Researches do not have a clear explanation for the higher risks but suggest that parents make sure their children are physically active and eating healthy meals whether in day care or not. According to lead researcher, Dr. Marie-Claude Geoffroy, the answers are not explained by known risk factors such as breastfeeding, BMI of the mother, or socioeconomic status of the parent.
-Feature photo courtesy of Joe_13