Children's longitudinal bodyweight in Australia: Influence of migrant mothers' long-term residency, attachment to, and level of childhood overweight in country-of-birth

Susan Hartono; Tom Cochrane; Theo Niyonsenga; Yohannes Kinfu

doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2022.102791

Children's longitudinal bodyweight in Australia: Influence of migrant mothers' long-term residency, attachment to, and level of childhood overweight in country-of-birth

Health Place. 2022 May:75:102791. doi: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2022.102791. Epub 2022 Mar 22.

Authors

Susan Hartono¹, Tom Cochrane², Theo Niyonsenga³, Yohannes Kinfu⁴

Affiliations

¹ Health Research Institute, University of Canberra, Bruce, A.C.T., Australia. Electronic address: susan.hartono@canberra.edu.au.
² Health Research Institute, University of Canberra, Bruce, A.C.T., Australia. Electronic address: tom.cochrane@canberra.edu.au.
³ Health Research Institute, University of Canberra, Bruce, A.C.T., Australia; Faculty of Health, University of Canberra, Bruce, A.C.T., Australia. Electronic address: theo.niyonsenga@canberra.edu.au.
⁴ Faculty of Health, University of Canberra, Bruce, A.C.T., Australia; College of Medicine, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar; Department of Health Metrics, University of Washington, Seattle, USA; Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia. Electronic address: yohannes.kinfu@canberra.edu.au.

PMID: 35334333
DOI: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2022.102791

Abstract

Immigration creates opportunities and imposes constraints associated with acculturation. We used the Australian national longitudinal survey of children aged 2 to 17 to evaluate the influence of mothers' long-term residency in Australia, mothers' attachment to country-of-birth, and macro indicators of childhood overweight environment at mothers' country-of-birth on children's longitudinal bodyweight. Both mothers' long-term exposure to the Australian environment and attachment to country-of-birth were associated with increased children's bodyweight z-scores. The childhood overweight environment in mothers' country-of-birth continued to influence their children's bodyweight after immigration. A better understanding of factors related to mothers' migration and children's bodyweight status is necessary to identify risk factors and migrant sub-groups needing extra support.

Keywords: Acculturation; Australian environment; Children; Longitudinal; Migrant; Obesity.

MeSH terms

Australia / epidemiology
Body Weight
Child
Female
Humans
Internship and Residency*
Mothers
Overweight / epidemiology
Pediatric Obesity*
Transients and Migrants*
Weight Gain