Body Mass Index in Mother and Child Dyads and its Association With Household Size and Parents' Education in 2 Urban Settings of Yucatan, Mexico

Abstract

Background: Overweight/obesity (OW/OB) coexists in mother-child dyads. However, a dearth of evidence on the factors associated with this phenomenon calls for research.

Objective: To analyze the association of sociodemographic factors with OW/OB in a sample of 260 Maya mother-child dyads from Yucatan, Mexico.

Methods: During 2011 to 2014, we measured height and weight in children and their mothers and calculated their body mass index (BMI). The OW/OB cutoff points were defined, for mothers, as having a BMI >25 kg/m² and, for children, as having a BMI-for-age >2 standard deviation of the World Health Organization references. Mother-child dyads were grouped according to their BMI status: (1) normal weight mother and child, (2) normal weight mother and OW/OB child, (3) OW/OB mother and normal weight child, and (4) OW/OB mother and child. A multinomial logistic regression model was used to analyze the interrelationships among BMI status in mother-child dyads, household size, and parental education.

Results: Overweight/obesity coexisted in 40% of dyads. Compared to normal weight dyads (1), each unit increase in household size and in years of maternal education decreased the risks of the coexistence of OW/OB in mother-child dyads (odds ratio [OR] = 0.72, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.55-0.94, P = .015; OR = 0.70, 95% CI 0.52-0.94, P = .019, respectively). Conversely, each year increase in paternal education increased the risk for OW/OB in dyads (OR = 1.47, 95% CI 1.08-1.99, P = .015).

Conclusions: Results suggest that household size and parental education contribute to shape BMI-based nutritional status in this sample of mother-child dyads.

Keywords: Maya; Mexico; Yucatan; inequality; overweight; poverty.