Sarah L. Friedman

Identifying Risk for Obesity in Early Childhood

OBJECTIVES. Our aim with this study was to assist clinicians by estimating the predictive value of earlier levels of BMI status on later risk of overweight and obesity during the middle childhood and early adolescent years. METHODS. We present growth data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, a longitudinal sample of 1042 healthy US children in 10 locations. Born in 1991, their growth reflects the secular trend of increasing overweight/obesity in the population. Height and weight of participating children in the study were measured at 7 time points. We examined odds ratios for overweight and obesity at age 12 years comparing the frequency with which children did versus did not reach specific BMI percentiles in the preschool- and elementary-age periods. To explore the question of whether and when earlier BMI was predictive of weight status at age 12 years, we used logistic regression to obtain the predicted probabilities of being overweight or obese (BMI ≥85%) at 12 years old on the basis of earlier BMI. RESULTS. Persistence of obesity is apparent for both the preschool and elementary school period. Children who were ever overweight (>85th percentile), that is, ≥1 time at ages 24, 36, or 54 months during the preschool period were >5 times as likely to be overweight at age 12 years than those who were below the 85th percentile for BMI at all 3 of the preschool ages. During the elementary school period, ages 7, 9, and 11 years, the more times a child was overweight, the greater the odds of being overweight at age 12 years relative to a child who was never overweight. Sixty percent of children who were overweight at any time during the preschool period and 80% of children who were overweight at any time during the elementary period were overweight at age 12 years. Follow-up calculations showed that 2 in 5 children whose BMIs were ≥50th percentile by age 3 years were overweight at age 12 years. No children who were <50th percentile for BMI at all points during elementary school were overweight at age 12 years. Children who have higher range BMIs earlier, but not at the 85th percentile, are also more likely to be overweight at age 12 years. Even at time points before and including age 9 years, children whose BMIs are between the 75th and 85th percentile have an ∼40% to 50% chance of being overweight at age 12 years. Children at 54 months old whose BMIs are between the 50th and 75th percentile are 4 times more likely to be overweight at age 12 years than their contemporaries who are <50th percentile, and those whose BMIs are between the 75th and 85th percentile are >6 times more likely to be overweight at age 12 years than those <50th percentile. CONCLUSIONS. The data from this study indicate that children with BMIs >85th percentile, as well as with BMIs in the high reference range are more likely than children whose BMI is <50th percentile to continue to gain weight and reach overweight status by adolescence. Pediatricians can be confident in counseling parents to begin to address the at-risk childs eating and activity patterns rather than delaying in hopes that overweight and the patterns that support it will resolve themselves in due course. Identifying children at risk for adolescent obesity provides physicians with an opportunity for earlier intervention with the goal of limiting the progression of abnormal weight gain that results in the development of obesity-related morbidity.

Testing a core emotion-regulation prediction : Does Early attentional persistence moderate the effect of infant negative emotionality on later development?

To test the hypothesis that early attentional persistence will moderate the effect of infant negative emotionality on social competence, problem behavior, and school readiness at age 3, data collected as part of the NICHD Study of Early Child Care were subject to structural equation modeling analyses (N = 1,038). Consistent with Eisenberg et al.s data on older children, high levels of negative emotionality were associated with low levels of social competence only when attentional persistence was poor. No such moderating effects of attentional persistence emerged in the case of behavior problems. And in the case of school readiness, findings indicated that high levels of negative emotionality predicted high levels of school readiness when attentional persistence was high, a result opposite to that found with respect to the prediction of social competence.

The ecology of childhood overweight: a 12-year longitudinal analysis

Objective:To investigate ecological correlates of the development of overweight in a multisite study sample of children followed from age 2 to 12.Design:Longitudinal examination of covariates of overweight status throughout childhood, with covariates drawn from three ecological levels: sociocultural or demographic, quality of the childs home environment, and proximal child experience that could directly affect the balance between energy intake and energy expenditure.Subjects:A total of 960 children participating in a long-term longitudinal study provided growth data at least once; 653 of the children had complete data on covariates.Measurements:Height and weight measured seven times between ages 2 and 12 were converted to a body mass index (BMI) and entered into a latent transition analysis to identify patterns of overweight across childhood. Ecological correlates measured longitudinally included demographic characteristics obtained by maternal report, home environment quality obtained by observation and maternal report, and proximal child experience factors obtained by observation, maternal report and child report.Results:Four patterns of overweight were found: never overweight, overweight beginning at preschool age, overweight beginning in elementary school, and return to normal weight after being overweight at preschool age. The weight status groups differed on home environment quality and proximal child experience factors but not on demographics. Children overweight at preschool had less sensitive mothers than never overweight children. Children overweight at school age had fewer opportunities for productive activity at home than did never overweight children. School-age overweight children also watched the most TV after school. Multivariate logistic regression analyses further indicated the significance to childrens weight status of proximal child experience variables. Less physically active children and those who watched more television after school were more likely to become overweight. Results did not vary by child sex.Conclusion:The results support the idea that childhood overweight is multiply determined. The one potentially important and changeable factor identified as a target for intervention centers on how children spend their time, especially their after-school time. Children who are more physically active and spend less time watching TV after school are less likely to become overweight by age 12.

Examining the Black–White Achievement Gap Among Low‐Income Children Using the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development

The Black-White achievement gap in childrens reading and mathematics school performance from 4½ years of age through fifth grade was examined in a sample of 314 lower income American youth followed from birth. Differences in family, child care, and schooling experiences largely explained Black-White differences in achievement, and instructional quality was a stronger predictor for Black than White children. In addition, the achievement gap was detected as young as 3 years of age. Taken together, the findings suggest that reducing the Black-White achievement gap may require early intervention to reduce race gaps in home and school experiences during the infant and toddler years as well as during the preschool and school years.

Affect dysregulation in the mother-child relationship in the toddler years: Antecedents and consequences

The purpose of this study was to examine child, maternal, and family antecedents of childrens early affect dysregulation within the mother-child relationship and later cognitive and socioemotional correlates of affect dysregulation. Childrens affect dysregulation at 24 and 36 months was defined in the context of mother-child interactions in semistructured play and toy cleanup. Dyads were classified as dysregulated at each age based on high negative affect. Affect dysregulation was associated with less maternal sensitivity and stimulation, more maternal depressive symptoms, and lower family income over the first 36 months of life. Children with early negative mood, lower Bayley Mental Development Index scores and insecure-avoidant (15 months) or insecure-resistant attachment classifications (36 months) were more likely to be in an affect-dysregulated group. Controlling for family and child variables, affect-dysregulated children had more problematic cognitive, social, and behavioral outcomes at 54 months, kindergarten, and first grade. The findings are discussed in terms of the early role played by parents in assisting children with affect regulation, the reciprocal nature of parent-child interactions, and the contribution of affect regulation to childrens later cognitive, social, and behavioral competence.

Does class size in first grade relate to children's academic and social performance or observed classroom processes?

This study evaluated the extent to which first-grade class size predicted child outcomes and observed classroom processes for 651 children (in separate classrooms). Analyses examined observed child-adult ratios and teacher-reported class sizes. Smaller classrooms showed higher quality instructional and emotional support, although children were somewhat less likely to be engaged. Teachers in smaller classes rated typical children in those classes as more socially skilled and as showing less externalizing behavior and reported more closeness toward them. Children in smaller classes performed better on literacy skills. Larger classrooms showed more group activities directed by the teacher, teachers and children interacted more often, and children were more often engaged. Lower class sizes were not of more benefit (or harm) as a function of the childs family income. First-grade class size in the range typical of present-day classrooms in the United States predicts classroom social and instructional processes as well as relative changes in social and literacy outcomes from kindergarten to first grade.

Longitudinal Development of Secondary Sexual Characteristics in Girls and Boys Between Ages 9½ and 15½ Years

OBJECTIVES To identify ages when adolescents were in sexual maturity stages 2 through 5; to explain the relations between breast (girls), genital (boys), and pubic hair (girls and boys) development between ages 9(1/2) and 15(1/2) years; and to evaluate synchrony of pubertal development across characteristics. DESIGN Annual pubertal assessments. SETTING Ten locations in the United States. PARTICIPANTS A total of 859 adolescents (427 boys [49.7%] and 432 girls [50.3%]; 737 white [85.8%] and 122 black [14.2%]). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Changes in the 5 stages of breast, genital, and pubic hair development. RESULTS Girls were in breast maturity stages 2 and 3 earlier than comparable pubic hair stages. Although breast development in girls started earlier than pubic hair development, girls completed breast and pubic hair development at approximately the same age. Black girls were in all stages of breast and pubic hair development earlier than white girls. Boys were in stages 2, 3, 4, and 5 of genital development before the comparable pubic hair stage. In boys, genital development started earlier than pubic hair development, but pubic hair development was completed in less time. Black boys were in genital and pubic hair development about 7 months earlier than white boys. Black and white boys completed genital development in approximately 4(1/2) years, but black boys took approximately 6 months longer than white boys to complete pubic hair development. At stage 2, for 66.2% of girls, breast development preceded their pubic hair development; for 91.1% of boys, genital development preceded their pubic hair development. CONCLUSIONS The results of this study are useful in understanding normative variation in the timing and change in the development of secondary sexual characteristics at puberty. They will help identify adolescents with atypical changes in sexual maturation and unusual progression of sexual maturation and growth disorders.

Planning in Context: Developmental and Situational Considerations

An analysis of the components of planning is presented that incorporates problem representation, goal selection, a decision to plan, strategy choice, strategy execution, and monitoring. We argue that which components are required and which developmental changes are triggered or revealed depend on the planning task. We present analyses of three tasks typically used to study planning: the Tower of Hanoi; errand scheduling; and story comprehension. We argue that the performance on the Tower of Hanoi task reflects representational and monitoring demands, and that story comprehension depends strongly on social comprehension and monitoring. Because many everyday plans like running errands have prepackaged components and take place in a less controllable environment, affective and attributional components affect most strongly the choice of goals, decision to plan, and strategy choice. We then speculate on the course of development of each processing component and the complex interplay of cognition, beliefs, attitudes, and motivation in assembling and implementing plans to handle different tasks. Finally, we consider changes across the life span in the kinds of plans that are generated.

Normal and affectively ill mothers' beliefs about their children.

Normal, unipolar, and bipolar depressed women were studied to determine whether depressive cognitive schemas extend to the perception of ones own child. Depressed and well mothers reported equal satisfaction with their children, but the depressed group was less satisfied with the childrens socioaffective than their cognitive development. The depressed mothers experienced a greater degree of helplessness regarding their children, and were more likely to feel that outcomes of child development were determined by uncontrollable factors.

Direction and Sequence in Copying The Effect of Learning to Write in English and Hebrew

To explore the nature of directional experience and directional behavior in countries with different scripts, children and adults in the United States and in Israel were asked to copy a number of geometric shapes. The paths or sequences of strokes displayed some common developmental trends together with some specific differences stemming from the patterns taught for forming letters. Generalization from letter patterns, however, followed a nonlinear course: strongest at the time when writing is first being mastered and then declining. A similar course, it is suggested, may occur in generalizations among other cognitive or perceptual behaviors.