OBJECTIVES: The intention of this study was to find out the impact of mother's body mass index, eating habits, nutrition status and sociodemographic factors on the body mass index of the children. METHODS: The study used original data of Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2010-2011) and had 957 children in the ages of 1-5 years and 957 mothers of these children, a total 1,914 as subjects. The weights (body mass indexes) of the children, subjects under 5th percentile were classified into a underweight group, 5~84th percentile into a normal weight group, 85-94th percentile into an overweight group and more than 95th percentile into an obesity group based on the 2007 Korean children and adolescents growth chart. RESULTS: We observed that when the body mass index of a mother increased by 1, the possibility that her child would belong to the overweight group increased by 6.5% (95% confidence interval: 1.01~1.13), and the possibility that the child would belong to the obesity group increased by 95% (confidence interval: 1.01~1.18). With regard to the number of deficient nutrients which were ingested according to estimated average requirements (EAR) amid nutrients ingested by the mother increased by 1, the possibility that the child would belong to the obesity group increased by 16.6% (95% confidence interval: 1.01~1.35). In case the birth weight of child increased by 1kg, the odds ratio that the child would belong to the obesity group was 2.022 (95% confidence interval: 1.08~3.77). CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the body mass index, eating habits and nutrition status of the mother had significant effects on the body mass index of the child. Therefore, it is critical to recognize the importance of this observation and provide practical training for eating habits and nutrient intakes in order to achieve healthy growth and prevention of obesity among children.
Adolescent ; Birth Weight ; Body Mass Index* ; Child* ; Eating* ; Growth Charts ; Humans ; Intention ; Korea* ; Mothers* ; Nutrition Surveys* ; Nutritional Status* ; Obesity ; Odds Ratio ; Overweight ; Thinness ; Weights and Measures