Trends and Associated Factors of Intergenerational Obesity Mother-Child Pairs in Low-Income Households in Malaysia: Evidence from the National Health and Morbidity Survey.
Nur Nadia Mohamed1
, A. J. Rohana1,6*, Noor Aman A Hamid1,6, Frank B Hu2,6, Vasanti S Malik2,3,6, Muhammad Fadhli Mohd Yusoff4and Tahir Aris5
1Department of Community Medicine, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia.
2Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan, School of Public Health, Boston, USA.
3Department of Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
4Institute for Public Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Blok B5, B6, Kompleks NIH, Jalan Setia Murni, Seksyen, Bandar Setia Alam, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.
5Institute of Medical Research, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Jalan Pahang, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
6The Global Nutrition and Epidemiologic Transition Initiative (GNET), Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan, School of Public Health, Boston, USA.
Corresponding Author Email: rohanajalil@usm.my
Abstract:
The transmission in intergenerational overweight and obesity (OW/OB) from mothers to their offspring has been widely explored in numerous studies. This phenomenon of OW/OB is a greater concern globally in particular among low-income households. However, studies conducted to determine the factors associated with OW/OB among mother-child pairs in low-income families are very scarce especially in Malaysia. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the prevalence trend and associated factors of overweight mothers and children in low-income households using the National Health and Morbidity Survey data between the years 2006 to 2015. In each low-income household, mother and child were identified and grouped as mother-child pairs based on their body mass index categories. Multivariable logistic regression was conducted to determine the factors associated with overweight mother/overweight child pairs (OWM/OWC) in low-income households. The reference group determined in the analysis was normal weight mother/normal weight child pairs (NWM/NWC). Within a decade, the transmission of OWM/OWC mother-child pairs in the low-income households has increased by 9.0%, while the prevalence of NWM/NWC decreased by 6.9%. In low-income households, older mothers and children aged between 10 to 14 years were significantly associated with OWM/OWC, while a larger household size and being as Chinese were less likely to become OWM/OWC. In conclusion, intergenerational obesity in mother and their offspring is showing an alarming trend among the lowest socio-economic group in Malaysia.
Keywords:
Intergenerational obesity; low-income households; Malaysia; Mother-Child Pairs
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