Perinatal & Pediatric
Obesity and Physical Activity in Children with Early Vision Problems: A Secondary Analysis of Data from the Growing-Up in Ireland Study Carolyn Drews-Botsch* Carolyn Drews-Botsch Siofra Harrington
Background: An association between obesity and vision problems such as amblyopia or myopia has been observed in cross-sectional analyses. However, longitudinal studies are needed in order to understand the direction of the association.
Methods: We used deidentified data from the Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) infant cohort. We limited analyses to the 6621 children who were followed at either age 3 or age 5, who had anthropometry measures at age 9 and whose parents did not report that the child had a chronic illness or disability. was measured at each time point. WHO standards were used to classify the child’s Body Mass Index (BMI) as either overweight (BMI > 85th percentile) or obese (BMI >95th percentile). At age 9, children used a time use diary to report the number of minutes spent in physical exercise and in sedentary activities on a single day. Mean differences in BMI and activity times were assessed using t-tests and multiple linear regression. Differences in the incidence of becoming obese or overweight between ages 5 and 9 were assessed using multiple logistic regression after excluding children who were obese or overweight at age 5.
Results: The primary caregiver of 752 (11.4%) children reported that their child had a sight problem requiring correction at either age 3 or 5. Average BMI increased more between ages 5 and 9 in children with early vision problems than children without such problems (adjusted mean difference 0.23, 95% CI 0.01,0.45), but time spent in either physical exercise or sedentary activities at age 9 did not differ between the two groups. Among children who were not overweight at age 5, the odds of becoming overweight by age 9 was 40% higher (OR 1.39, 95% CI 1.04, 1.85) among children reported to have early vision problems than those without.
Conclusions: Children who have vision problems early in their lives are at greater risk of gaining weight and becoming overweight suggesting that vision problems precede weight gain in childhood.