The impact of maternal occupation and pre-pregnancy weight status on childhood obesity

Abstract

Matched mother/child data from the 2008 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth are used to estimate how child, maternal, and household characteristics—including the mother’s occupation and pre-pregnancy weight status—affect the probability of childhood obesity. The results suggest that a mother being overweight or obese before pregnancy increases her child's risk of obesity later in childhood. The probability of childhood obesity is also impacted by maternal occupation.