Grant: Operating Grant

The ultimate goal of this research project is to determine the factors underlying weight trajectories and the development of overweight and obesity in boys and girls, at the population level. More specifically, the research project will study the roles of the social environment and behaviours (diet and physical activity) on weight change in primary school children, taking into consideration birth, infancy, and preschool and primary-school factors. Such research is important because, to date, current weight-reduction and -maintenance interventions at both the individual and population levels have proven to be ineffective. The factors involved in the development of obesity must be considered simultaneously in order to better understand the etiology of this condition, and a gender-based approach is essential to study the situation. As the roots of adult obesity can be traced to childhood, it is thus essential to identify the factors associated with the maintenance of a healthy weight and with the development of overweight and obesity in boys and girls in childhood. The 3 primary objectives of this project are: (1) To study the process of weight change in a population of primary school children (aged 5 to 12 years); (2) to identify the main factors in the social environment and among behaviours (diet, physical activity) that contribute to the maintenance of a healthy weight and the development of overweight and obesity; and, (3) to analyze interactions between the social environment and behaviours in relation to different weight trajectories for boys and girls. Analyses will be done on a large birth cohort of singletons, the Québec Longitudinal Study of Child Development. The project will be innovative in presenting a gender-based analysis at the population level.