In France, a study of more than 800 children shows that the time spent playing outdoors or watching television during infancy is predictive of the risk of obesity.
The follow-up of a cohort of children shows that the time spent playing outdoors or watching television during infancy is predictive of the risk of obesity after 2 years. This is the conclusion of the work of a team of Parisian researchers (1), the first of its kind (2).
“Different studies have been done in school-aged children. They had already shown that a sedentary lifestyle (measured from the time spent in front of screens), less physical activity and the consumption of high energy density foods were linked to overweight. But we lacked prospective data in children under 3 years of age, ”explains co-author Sandrine Lioret, in a press release.
Work carried out in Poitiers and Nancy
Thus, the Inserm team that she co-directs (3) carried out this work with 883 children of the EDEN cohort, the first French generalist cohort study conducted on the early pre and postnatal determinants of child development and health. Started in 2003, this study followed mother-child couples in Poitiers and Nancy, from the start of pregnancy until the child is 10 years old.
“The parents answered several questionnaires during the follow-up, asking them in particular, at 2 years old, to specify the usual time spent by the child playing in the open air and in front of the screens on different days of the week,” explains Sandrine. Lioret. They were also questioned on the frequency of consumption of around thirty food groups covering the entire diet.
This information was then synthesized in the form of two food profiles, one characterized by frequent consumption of processed foods such as snacking / fast food, the other by foods in line with nutritional recommendations. All of these data were then analyzed and compared to anthropometric data at 5 years: the percentage of body fat (measured by impedancemetry) and BMI.
Limit exposure to screens
The analysis was carried out separately for both sexes, “because from the age of 2, physical activity and the percentage of body fat differ between girls and boys,” says Sandrine Lioret. For boys, “time spent in front of screens is time they don’t spend on more energy-consuming activities. It is also possible that exposure to food advertising promotes snacking. Their screen time at 2 years was also associated with a more frequent use of processed foods such as snacking / fast food. From where a probable surplus of the energy balance of these children, estimates it.
As for the girls, it is, according to her, possible that the time of outdoor play is a better indicator of the total physical activity at home: “this could partly explain why the inverse relationship between outdoor play and subsequent adiposity. was only observed in them in this study ”. In summary, the more time boys spend in front of screens at 2 years old, the higher their body fat percentage at 5 years old. In girls, it is those who spend the least time playing outdoors at age 2 who are at increased risk of developing body fat.
Even if these results deserve to be confirmed by other studies, it seems relevant not to focus only on food for the early prevention of overweight in children.
“We tend to believe that young children are spontaneously and sufficiently active, but the literature reveals that they devote most of their time to sedentary activities, and that there is great inter-individual variability for physical activity, Sandrine Lioret analysis. These results suggest the importance of promoting and encouraging outdoor games from an early age, and limiting screen exposure. It is therefore also on these practices that prevention messages must be supported, ”she concludes.
(1) Inserm Unit 1153 / Denis Diderot University / Paris Nord University / Inra, Sorbonne Paris Cité Epidemiology and Statistical Research Center, ORCHAD team (early ORigin of the Child’s Health And Development), Paris.
(2) C Saldanha-Gomes et al. Prospective associations between energy balance-related behaviors at 2 years of age and subsequent adiposity: the EDEN mother – child cohort. International Journal of Obesity (2016), 1–8.
(3) Sandrine Lioret co-supervised this work with Patricia Dargent-Molina.
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