Centre-based care is a significant predictor of lower body mass index in early childhood: Longitudinal evidence from Chile.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The prevalence of childhood overweight has increased by approximately 50% in the past three decades, becoming a major public health concern worldwide. In Chile, an upper middle-income country, about 38% of children between two and four years of age are overweight, almost double the average in Latin America and the Caribbean. Various environmental and individual factors, and their interactions, affect childhood weight. Emerging evidence suggests childcare may also matter. Because the public provision of centre-based care is growing, childcare may be a useful policy tool to help prevent childhood overweight.

Methods

Using a nationally representative longitudinal survey of ~ 15 000 children in Chile (2010 and 2012), we estimated whether the type of child care (centre

SUBMITTER: Allel K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7182360 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature