Journal of Obesity & Weight Loss Therapy
Open Access

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to identify and develop a comprehensive model that can be used to estimate all the factors that lead to obesity in children. A growing body of research consistently points out that the socio-economic level of the family; parental feeding practice and physical activity play an important role in the weight status of children. Six structural models were tested to identify the direct and indirect relationship between the variables of interest. To fulfill such an aim, a model was devised to show how these factors relate to each other as well as to the Body Mass Index (BMI) of the child. Three hundred and ninety primary school children aged between seven (7) and nine (9) years old, as well as their parents, participated as subjects in this study. Concerning the methodology of the current study, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was applied to reveal the hidden (secondary) effect of socioeconomic factors on feeding practice. The structural model tested in this study suggested that the parental socio-economic level of parents is directly related to feeding practice (coefficient=0.21, and p-value=0.001), as well as BMI (coefficient=0.08, and p-value=0.004) and physical activity (coefficient=0.08, and p-value=0.004). In addition, the results indicate that parental feeding practice and physical activity are also directly related to the weight status of children (coefficient=0.84, and p-value=0.002), (coefficient=0.84, and p-value=0.002), respectively. Moreover, the results suggest that parental feeding practice and physical activity could be mediators in the structural model.

Biography

Maryam Kheirollahpour has completed her master degree in biostatistics from University Putra Malaysia. She has published 2 papers in reputed journals.

Email: maryam.kheirollahpour@gmail.com