Are Korean Latchkey Children Overweight? Maternal Work Schedule, Children’s Dietary Patterns, and their BMI

• In Event: 054 - Section on the Sociology of the Family Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 07. Families and Health

Abstract

Studies have consistently shown a positive association between maternal employment status (for example, employed vs. non-employed) and childhood obesity. However, little is known about the impact of maternal work schedules at nonstandard times (for example, evening, night and irregular shifts) and no previous examination of maternal work shift and child’s body mass index (BMI) was conducted in Korean population. In this paper, I examine the question of whether Korean mother’s nonstandard work schedule is associated with their children’s BMI, over and above the impact of children’s dietary patterns. Data were analyzed from the most recent wave of children aged 2 through 18 years (N=2,035) in the Fifth Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey V 2010 (KNHANES). Children were measured and classified as overweight or obese using the age- and sex- specific percentile for BMI from 2007 Korean CDC National Growth Chart. Using logistic regression analyses, I found that, when Korean mothers work at nonstandard times, the odds of their children being overweight or obese are 76% higher than those whose mothers work at standard times (OR 1.76, 95% CI 1.07-2.89) and this association was mediated by frequency of dining out meals. There was no evidence that mother’s socio-demographic characteristics or children’s dietary pattern such as breakfast/dinner skipping mediated this association. Findings indicate that prevention and intervention within the context of maternal work schedule and child-care arrangements must be considered in order to prevent further significant increase in the prevalence of childhood obesity in Korea.

Author

• Haena Lee, University of Chicago