Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

LIVE: Thursday 27th June 2024, 18:00-19:30 (CEST)
Join our expert panel to discover why you need to understand the drivers of non-adherence in your patients, and how you can optimize medication adherence in your clinics to drastically improve patient outcomes.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
BMC Public Health
Published in: BMC Public Health 1/2024

Open Access 01-12-2024 | Obesity | Research

The links between parental smoking and childhood obesity: data of the longitudinal study of Australian children

Authors: Preety Srivastava, Trong-Anh Trinh, Karen T. Hallam, Leila Karimi, Bruce Hollingsworth

Published in: BMC Public Health | Issue 1/2024

Login to get access

Abstract

Childhood obesity is one of the most concerning public health issues globally and its implications on mortality and morbidity in adulthood are increasingly important. This study uses a unique dataset of Australian children aged 4–16 to examine the impact of parental smoking on childhood obesity. It confirms a significant link between parental smoking (stronger for mothers) and higher obesity risk in children, regardless of income, age, family size, or birth order. Importantly, we explore whether heightened preference for unhealthy foods can mediate the effect of parental smoking. Our findings suggest that increased consumption of unhealthy foods among children can be associated with parental smoking.
Appendix
Available only for authorised users
Footnotes
1
To test for missing variable bias in our study, we employ the inverse probability weighting (IPW) suggested by Fitzgerald et al. (1998). Weights are derived as the inverse of the estimated propensity of the ones that remain in the sample during the entire period and are incorporated into our estimation analysis. The results are qualitatively similar to those estimated without weights which indicates that there are no selection concerns and that the missing observations are most likely random.
 
3
This includes activities such as cooking, caring for pet, and drawing.
 
4
Refer to https://​growingupinaustr​alia.​gov.​au/​sites/​default/​files/​tp12.​pdf for more information on measures of parenting styles in the LSAC.
 
5
Note that according to the latest National Drug Strategy Household Survey (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2017), about 1.6% of children aged 12–17 reported smoking daily in 2016.
 
6
In such a binary probit model, we essentially estimate a latent model where the dependent variable is the propensity of the child being obese. The marginal effect measures the effect of a given X on the probability of being obese.
 
7
For a continuous variable, the marginal effect represents the change in the probability of being obese, when the X variable increases by one unit, holding all other variables constant.
 
8
Note that the rate of prevalence of smoking in the three income groups is 34%, 25% and 15% respectively.
 
Literature
1.
Reitsma MB, et al. Spatial, temporal, and demographic patterns in prevalence of smoking Tobacco use and attributable Disease burden in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis from the global burden of Disease Study 2019. The Lancet. 2021;397(10292):2337–60.CrossRef
2.
3.
Williams AS, et al. Socioeconomic status and other factors associated with childhood obesity. J Am Board Family Med. 2018;31(4):514–21.CrossRef
4.
Juonala M et al. Parental smoking in childhood and brachial artery flow-mediated dilatation in young adults: the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns study and the Childhood Determinants of Adult Health study Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology, 2012. 32(4): p. 1024–31.
5.
West HW, et al. Exposure to parental Smoking in childhood is associated with increased risk of carotid atherosclerotic plaque in adulthood: the Cardiovascular Risk in Young finns Study. Circulation. 2015;131(14):1239–46.PubMedCrossRef
6.
Juonala M, et al. Childhood exposure to passive Smoking and bone health in adulthood: the cardiovascular risk in young finns study. J Clin Endocrinol Metabolism. 2019;104(6):2403–11.CrossRef
7.
Etzel RA, et al. Passive Smoking and middle ear effusion among children in day care. Pediatrics. 1992;90(2):228–32.PubMedCrossRef
8.
Chilmonczyk BA, et al. Association between exposure to environmental Tobacco smoke and exacerbations of Asthma in children. N Engl J Med. 1993;328(23):1665–9.PubMedCrossRef
9.
Mannino DM et al. Second-hand smoke exposure and blood lead levels in US children. Epidemiology, 2003: p. 719–27.
10.
Öberg M, et al. Worldwide burden of Disease from exposure to second-hand smoke: a retrospective analysis of data from 192 countries. The Lancet. 2011;377(9760):139–46.CrossRef
11.
Been JV, et al. Effect of smoke-free legislation on perinatal and child health: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet. 2014;383(9928):1549–60.CrossRef
12.
Magriplis E, et al. Maternal Smoking and risk of obesity in school children: investigating early life theory from the GRECO study. Prev Med Rep. 2017;8:177–82.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRef
13.
Durmuş B, et al. Parental Smoking during pregnancy and total and abdominal fat distribution in school-age children: the Generation R Study. Int J Obes. 2014;38(7):966–72.CrossRef
14.
15.
Rayfield S, Plugge E. Systematic review and meta-analysis of the association between maternal Smoking in pregnancy and childhood overweight and obesity. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2017;71(2):162–73.PubMedCrossRef
16.
Power C, Atherton K, Thomas C. Maternal Smoking in pregnancy, adult adiposity and other risk factors for Cardiovascular Disease. Atherosclerosis. 2010;211(2):643–8.PubMedCrossRef
17.
Al Mamun A, et al. Does maternal Smoking during pregnancy have a direct effect on future offspring obesity? Evidence from a prospective birth cohort study. Am J Epidemiol. 2006;164(4):317–25.PubMedCrossRef
18.
Rzehak P, et al. Maternal Smoking during pregnancy and DNA-methylation in children at age 5.5 years: epigenome-wide-analysis in the European Childhood Obesity Project (CHOP)-Study. PLoS ONE. 2016;11(5):e0155554.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRef
19.
Kane J, et al. Nicotine up-regulates expression of orexin and its receptors in rat brain. Endocrinology. 2000;141(10):3623–9.PubMedCrossRef
20.
Li MD, et al. Nicotine administration enhances NPY expression in the rat hypothalamus. Brain Res. 2000;867(1–2):157–64.PubMedCrossRef
21.
Riedel C, et al. Parental Smoking and childhood obesity: higher effect estimates for maternal Smoking in pregnancy compared with paternal smoking—a meta-analysis. Int J Epidemiol. 2014;43(5):1593–606.PubMedCrossRef
22.
23.
Florath I, et al. Association of pre-and post-natal parental Smoking with offspring body mass index: an 8-year follow-up of a birth cohort. Pediatr Obes. 2014;9(2):121–34.PubMedCrossRef
24.
Gortmaker SL, et al. Social and economic consequences of overweight in adolescence and young adulthood. N Engl J Med. 1993;329(14):1008–12.PubMedCrossRef
25.
Cawley J. The impact of obesity on wages. J Hum Resour. 2004;39(2):451–74.CrossRef
26.
Morris S. The impact of obesity on employment. Labour Econ. 2007;14(3):413–33.CrossRef
27.
Sabia JJ. The effect of body weight on adolescent academic performance. South Econ J. 2007;73(4):871–900.CrossRef
28.
Nonnemaker J, Sur M. Tobacco expenditures and child health and nutritional outcomes in rural Bangladesh. Volume 65. Social science & medicine; 2007. pp. 2517–26. 12.
29.
Mellor JM. Do cigarette taxes affect children’s body mass index? The effect of household environment on health. Health Econ. 2011;20(4):417–31.PubMedCrossRef
30.
Busch SH, et al. Burning a hole in the budget: Tobacco spending and its crowd-out of other goods. Appl Health Econ Health Policy. 2004;3:263–72.PubMedCrossRef
31.
John RM. Crowding out effect of Tobacco expenditure and its implications on household resource allocation in India. Soc Sci Med. 2008;66(6):1356–67.PubMedCrossRef
32.
Cutler-Triggs C, et al. Increased rates and severity of child and adult food insecurity in households with adult smokers. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2008;162(11):1056–62.PubMedCrossRef
33.
Block S, Webb P. Up in smoke: Tobacco use, expenditure on food, and child Malnutrition in developing countries. Econ Dev Cult Change. 2009;58(1):1–23.CrossRef
34.
Vennemann MM, Hummel T, Berger K. The association between Smoking and smell and taste impairment in the general population. J Neurol. 2008;255:1121–6.PubMedCrossRef
35.
Chéruel F, Jarlier M, Sancho-Garnier H. Effect of cigarette smoke on gustatory sensitivity, evaluation of the deficit and of the recovery time-course after smoking cessation. Tob Induc Dis. 2017;15:1–8.CrossRef
36.
Larkin FA, et al. Dietary patterns of women smokers and non-smokers. J Am Diet Assoc. 1990;90(2):230–7.PubMedCrossRef
37.
Margetts BM, Jackson AA. Interactions between people’s diet and their Smoking habits: the dietary and nutritional survey of British adults. BMJ. 1993;307(6916):1381–4.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRef
38.
Thompson DH, Warburton DM. Lifestyle differences between smokers, ex-smokers and non-smokers, and implications for their health. Psychol Health. 1992;7(4):311–21.CrossRef
39.
Dallongeville J, et al. Cigarette Smoking is associated with unhealthy patterns of nutrient intake: a meta-analysis. J Nutr. 1998;128(9):1450–7.PubMedCrossRef
40.
Alkerwi A, et al. Smoking status is inversely associated with overall diet quality: findings from the ORISCAV-LUX study. Clin Nutr. 2017;36(5):1275–82.PubMedCrossRef
41.
Palaniappan U, et al. Fruit and vegetable consumption is lower and saturated fat intake is higher among canadians reporting Smoking. J Nutr. 2001;131(7):1952–8.PubMedCrossRef
42.
Gray M, Sanson A. Growing up in Australia: the longitudinal study of Australian children. Family Matters, 2005(72): p. 4–9.
43.
Gray M, Smart D. Growing up in Australia: the longitudinal study of Australian children is now walking and talking. Family Matters, 2008(79): p. 5–13.
44.
Edwards B. Growing up in Australia: the longitudinal study of Australian children: entering adolescence and becoming a young adult. Family Matters, 2014(95): p. 5–14.
45.
46.
Black N, Hughes R, Jones AM. The health care costs of childhood obesity in Australia: an instrumental variables approach. Econ Hum Biology. 2018;31:1–13.CrossRef
47.
Khanam R, Nghiem S, Rahman M. The income gradient and child mental health in Australia: does it vary by assessors? Eur J Health Econ. 2020;21:19–36.PubMedCrossRef
48.
Meyer S-C. Maternal employment and childhood overweight in Germany. Econ Hum Biology. 2016;23:84–102.CrossRef
49.
Grossman M. The demand for health: a theoretical and empirical. New York, NY, USA: National Bureau of Economay Research and Columbia University Press; 1972. pp. 1–111.
50.
Becker GS. A theory of social interactions. J Polit Econ. 1974;82(6):1063–93.CrossRef
51.
Mundlak Y. On the pooling of time series and cross section data. Econometrica: J Econometric Soc, 1978: p. 69–85.
52.
53.
Thomas D. Incomes, expenditures, and health outcomes: Evidence on intrahousehold resource allocation Intrahousehold resource allocation in developing countries, 1997: p. 142 – 64.
54.
Carlson GJ, Kordas K, Murray-Kolb LE. Associations between women’s autonomy and child nutritional status: a review of the literature. Matern Child Nutr. 2015;11(4):452–82.PubMedCrossRef
55.
Holland C, Rammohan A. Rural women’s empowerment and children’s food and nutrition security in Bangladesh. World Dev. 2019;124:104648.CrossRef
56.
Perkins J, et al. Meta-Analysis on associations of timing of maternal Smoking Cessation before and during pregnancy with childhood overweight and obesity. Nicotine and Tobacco Research. 2023;25(4):605–15.PubMedCrossRef
57.
Anderson PM. Parental employment, family routines and childhood obesity. Econ Hum Biology. 2012;10(4):340–51.CrossRef
58.
Crepinsek MK, Burstein NR. Maternal employment and children’s nutrition, U.S.D.o.A. Economic Research Service, Editor. Department of Agriculture: Washington D.C; 2004.
59.
Cawley J, Liu F. Maternal employment and childhood obesity: a search for mechanisms in time use data. Econ Hum Biology. 2012;10(4):352–64.CrossRef
60.
Gwozdz W, et al. Maternal employment and childhood obesity–a European perspective. J Health Econ. 2013;32(4):728–42.PubMedCrossRef
61.
Metadata
Title
The links between parental smoking and childhood obesity: data of the longitudinal study of Australian children
Authors
Preety Srivastava
Trong-Anh Trinh
Karen T. Hallam
Leila Karimi
Bruce Hollingsworth
Publication date
01-12-2024
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Public Health / Issue 1/2024
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2458
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-17399-5

Other articles of this Issue 1/2024

BMC Public Health 1/2024 Go to the issue

Research

Barriers and facilitators to reducing low-value care for the management of low back pain in Iran: a qualitative multi-professional study

Research

Effect of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program on depression, emotion regulation, and sleep problems: A randomized controlled trial study on depressed elderly

Research

Behavioural and nutritional risk factors for cardiovascular diseases among the Ghanaian population- a cross-sectional study

Research

A systems framework for implementing healthy food retail in grocery settings

Research

Characteristics and outcomes of a hospitalized cohort with reduced mortality from COVID-19, White Mountain apache tribal lands, April 1 – July 31, 2020

Research

Synergistic associations of antenatal care visits and iron-folic acid supplementation with low birth weight: a pooled analysis of national surveys from six south Asian countries