Childhood obesity: reducing the risk through early life measures

Download the evidence brief

Media release: We are what, when and how we eat

Carrying excess weight increases a child’s risk of health issues that often extend into adulthood. While there is awareness that overconsumption of food – particularly high calorie, ultraprocessed products – may lead to excess weight in children, it is less recognised that other factors such as in utero nutrition and certain parent/caregiver feeding practices may also promote childhood obesity.

Dr Felicia Low, head of the Knowledge Hub for Maternal and Child Health at Koi Tū, has produced this evidence brief Childhood obesity: reducing the risk through early life measures, which found mounting evidence linking childhood-obesity risk to early-life factors and caregiver feeding practices.

This evidence brief focuses on how early life nutrition, including prenatal exposures, caregiver feeding practices and childhood eating behaviours, contributes to overweight and obesity risk in children.

Related media

• Newstalk ZB Mike Hosking Breakfast: Auckland University think tank fins links between caregiver feeding and childhood obesity (starts at 0:30)
• The Press: Weight problems in children can be triggered as early as conception
• RNZ Morning report: Research finds links between early feeding patterns and obesity in adulthood