Association between parental nationalities and childhood overweight/obesity in Japan: An analysis of nationally representative survey data

IF 2.3 Q2 PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health Pub Date : 2025-04-22 DOI:10.1016/j.cegh.2025.102042

Tasuku Okui, Naoki Nakashima

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

Few studies have investigated the association between nativity or nationality and childhood overweight/obesity in Japan. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the association between parental nationalities and childhood overweight/obesity in Japan using nationally representative survey data.

Methods

Data from the Longitudinal Survey of Newborns in the 21st Century (2010 Cohort) in Japan, which longitudinally monitored height and weight of children from 2.5 years to 12 years, were used. Parental nationalities were categorized as Japanese and non-Japanese. The prevalence of overweight/obesity was calculated according to combinations of parental nationalities for each age. In addition, the generalized estimating equation was used to investigate the association between parental nationalities and overweight/obesity, and the sociodemographic characteristics of children were adjusted.

Results

The analysis utilized data on 37,190 children. Results showed that the proportions of overweight/obesity in children born to non-Japanese mother and Japanese father and those whose parents were both non-Japanese were higher than the proportion in children whose parents were both Japanese regardless of age, and the proportion in children whose parents were both non-Japanese was the highest in many cases. The generalized estimating equation analysis showed that children born to non-Japanese mother had a significantly higher risk for overweight/obesity than those born to Japanese mother.

Conclusions

In conclusion, the risk of childhood overweight/obesity differed based on maternal nationality in Japan. The study highlights the need for investigating health-related behaviors and statuses of non-Japanese children more in Japan in the future.

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日本父母国籍与儿童超重/肥胖的关系：一项具有全国代表性的调查数据分析

背景：在日本，很少有研究调查出生或国籍与儿童超重/肥胖之间的关系。因此，本研究旨在利用具有全国代表性的调查数据，评估日本父母国籍与儿童超重/肥胖之间的关系。方法采用日本《21世纪新生儿纵向调查（2010队列）》的数据，对2.5 ~ 12岁儿童的身高、体重进行纵向监测。父母的国籍分为日本人和非日本人。根据每个年龄段父母国籍的组合计算超重/肥胖的患病率。此外，采用广义估计方程探讨父母国籍与超重/肥胖的关系，并对儿童的社会人口学特征进行调整。结果该分析利用了37190名儿童的数据。结果表明，非日籍父母和非日籍父母所生儿童超重/肥胖的比例高于父母双方均为日本人的儿童，无论年龄如何，而且在许多情况下，父母双方均为非日籍的儿童超重/肥胖的比例最高。广义估计方程分析显示，非日籍母亲所生子女超重/肥胖的风险明显高于日籍母亲所生子女。结论日本儿童超重/肥胖风险存在母亲国籍差异。这项研究强调，未来日本需要更多地调查非日本儿童的健康行为和状况。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH-

CiteScore

4.60

自引率

7.70%

发文量

218

审稿时长

66 days

期刊介绍： Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health (CEGH) is a multidisciplinary journal and it is published four times (March, June, September, December) a year. The mandate of CEGH is to promote articles on clinical epidemiology with focus on developing countries in the context of global health. We also accept articles from other countries. It publishes original research work across all disciplines of medicine and allied sciences, related to clinical epidemiology and global health. The journal publishes Original articles, Review articles, Evidence Summaries, Letters to the Editor. All articles published in CEGH are peer-reviewed and published online for immediate access and citation.