Discipline of Public Health, Life Course and Intergenerational Health Research Group, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Int J Obes (Lond). 2012 Apr;36(4):573-80. doi: 10.1038/ijo.2011.252. Epub 2011 Dec 20.
Studies in school-age children have consistently shown a positive association between maternal paid work hours and child obesity. However, there is conflicting evidence about the impact of maternal work hours scheduled at nonstandard times (for example, evenings, nights or weekends), and no previous examination of paternal work schedules and child weight. We examined the associations between maternal, paternal and combined parental paid work schedules and overweight/obesity in children at age 9 years.
Data were analysed from the most recent follow-up of 9-year-old children (n=434) in an Australian birth cohort study. Children were measured and classified as overweight/obese using the International Obesity Taskforce body mass index cutoff points. Current working conditions of parents were obtained from a structured interview with the primary caregiver. Logistic regression analyses were used to investigate the effect of parental work schedules on child overweight/obesity with adjustment for a range of sociodemographic and household factors associated with parental employment and child weight.
At 9 years of age, 99 children (22.8%) were overweight or obese. When parental work schedules were examined separately, child overweight/obesity was significantly associated with paternal nonstandard work schedules (adjusted odds ratio (OR) 1.97, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.08-3.61). There was no association with any type of maternal work schedule. We also found an association between child overweight/obesity and circumstances in which both parents worked nonstandard schedules; however, this was of borderline statistical significance in the adjusted models (adjusted OR 2.26, 95% CI 0.99-5.16).
Work hours scheduled at nonstandard times, when worked by the father or both parents, were associated with child overweight and obesity. These findings indicate the potential importance of fathers' paid work arrangements for child overweight/obesity, which until recently has largely been ignored.
针对学龄儿童的研究表明，母亲的有偿工作时间与儿童肥胖之间存在正相关关系。然而，关于非标准时间（例如晚上、夜间或周末）安排的母亲工作时间的影响，以及关于父亲工作时间表与儿童体重的影响，仍存在相互矛盾的证据。我们研究了母亲、父亲和父母双方有偿工作时间表与 9 岁儿童超重/肥胖之间的关联。
本研究分析了澳大利亚出生队列研究中最近一次 9 岁儿童（n=434）的随访数据。使用国际肥胖工作组（IOTF）体重指数切点来衡量和分类儿童超重/肥胖。通过与主要照顾者的结构化访谈获得父母的当前工作状况。使用逻辑回归分析，在调整了一系列与父母就业和儿童体重相关的社会人口学和家庭因素后，调查了父母工作时间表对儿童超重/肥胖的影响。
9 岁时，99 名儿童（22.8%）超重或肥胖。当分别检查父母的工作时间表时，儿童超重/肥胖与父亲的非标准工作时间表显著相关（调整后的优势比（OR）1.97，95%置信区间（CI）1.08-3.61）。与任何类型的母亲工作时间表都没有关联。我们还发现儿童超重/肥胖与父母双方都从事非标准工作时间表的情况有关；然而，在调整后的模型中，这种关联具有边缘统计学意义（调整后的 OR 2.26，95% CI 0.99-5.16）。
非标准时间安排的工作时间，当由父亲或父母双方工作时，与儿童超重和肥胖有关。这些发现表明，父亲的有偿工作安排对儿童超重/肥胖的潜在重要性，而这在很大程度上被忽视了。
