Study from England shows no garden access for young children linked to childhood obesity later in childhood

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-09/d-sfe091415.php

Public Release: 15-Sep-2015
Study from England shows no garden access for young children linked to childhood obesity later in childhood
Diabetologia

A study of 6467 children from England--presented at this year's annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Stockholm--shows that no access to a garden at age 3-5 years is linked to an increased risk developing obesity by age 7 years. The research is by Annemarie Schalkwijk, VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and colleagues.

Overweight and obese children are at increased risk of becoming overweight and obese adults and therefore being overweight or obese in childhood is an important risk factor for developing type 2 diabetes. Being overweight or obese is associated with environmental, parental and socioeconomic status (SES) characteristics.

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After adjusting for parental influences and SES, the authors found that no garden access for lower educated households (children age 3-5 years) increased the odds of overweight/ obesity at 7 years by 38%. There was also a 38% increased risk of overweight/obesity at 7 years for children of higher educated househoulds living in disadvantaged neighourhoods.

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