# Family context, child characteristics, child-rearing features, and obesity risk: a 15-year longitudinal analysis

> **NIH NIH R03** · BAYLOR UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $67,454

## Abstract

Project Summary
Obesity among children and youth in the U.S. has become a serious public health problem. To
date, there is still a large gap in our knowledge of the roles of family factors and child
characteristics in the etiology of childhood obesity. A thorough understanding of the natural
process of the problem and how the risks intersect and accumulate over the course of the child’s
life is the key for effective intervention strategies. We propose to assess the longitudinal
relationships of family factors (poverty, marital status/family structure, and maternal/paternal
depression), child’s temperament, and child-rearing features (parenting styles, non-maternal
child care) with the development of obesity and the transition/persistence of weight status over
the different phases of childhood and adolescence. The National Institute of Child Health and
Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD)
has examined a national birth cohort of 1,364 subjects and have collected comprehensive
information longitudinally, at frequent intervals from birth to adolescence (age 15), including
parental and child characteristics, and standard measured body weight and height. Guided by
the Life Course Theory and the Social Ecological Theory, the proposed study will determine if
there are critical phases for risks and if there is an accumulation of risks across the child’s life in
the development of childhood obesity. The study will explore the interplay between key family
factors and child characteristics on childhood obesity risk, as well as examine the
average/marginal effects of these individual variables on the development of obesity and the
transition/persistence of weight status during childhood and adolescence. The specific aims are:
1) Aim 1: Assess the impact of family (poverty, marital status/family structure, maternal/paternal
depression, parenting styles, non-maternal child care) and individual (child temperament) level
characteristics on the development of obesity and the transition/persistence of weight status
during childhood; 2) Explore the possible interplay of family factors and child’s temperament
characteristics with child-rearing features (parenting styles, non-maternal child care) on the
development of obesity and the transition/persistence of weight status during childhood. Mixed
models, generalized estimating equations (GEE), and structural equation modeling (SEM)
techniques will be used to analyze the data. This data set provides a unique opportunity to
conduct a comprehensive data analysis with valid and accurate estimates of the dynamic
associations of key family factors and child characteristics with obesity risk from childhood
through adolescence. Therefore, our proposed study will significantly extend the current
knowledge about the risk of and the pathways to obesity in childhood and adolescence. Findings
from this study will help to identify key family contexts and child rearing practices for targ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10301925
- **Project number:** 7R03HD098546-03
- **Recipient organization:** BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Liang Wang
- **Activity code:** R03 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $67,454
- **Award type:** 7
- **Project period:** 2021-01-01 → 2023-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10301925

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10301925, Family context, child characteristics, child-rearing features, and obesity risk: a 15-year longitudinal analysis (7R03HD098546-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10301925. Licensed CC0.

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