History of child maltreatment and excessive dietary and screen time behaviors in young adults: Results from a nationally representative study

Citation

Cammack, Alison L.; Gazmararian, Julie A.; & Suglia, Shakira F. (2020). History of child maltreatment and excessive dietary and screen time behaviors in young adults: Results from a nationally representative study. Preventive Medicine. , PMCID: PMC7494614

Abstract

Child maltreatment is common and has been associated with substance use addictions, yet few studies have examined associations with potentially addictive dietary and screen time behaviors. The goal of this study was to assess associations between retrospectively self-reported child maltreatment (sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect) and excessive self-reported dietary (sugar sweetened beverage and fast food consumption) and screen time behaviors (television/video watching and leisure time computer use) in early adulthood, overall and by sex and race/ethnicity. Associations were examined using data from 10,813 participants 24–32 years old from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. We used predicted marginal proportions accounting for the complex sample design to obtain prevalence ratios (PRs) and adjusted for demographic characteristics and physical activity. In females, exposure to poly-maltreatment (2+ types of child maltreatment) was associated with excessive sugar sweetened beverage consumption, television/video watching, and leisure time computer use; in males, exposure to poly-maltreatment was associated with excessive sugar sweetened beverage consumption, television/video watching, and fast food consumption. Some associations were particularly strong in racial/ethnic minorities, especially Latina females (poly-maltreatment-sugar sweetened beverage association: aPR = 6.14, 95% CI:2.12, 17.75; poly-maltreatment-computer use association: aPR = 3.08, 95% CI:1.44, 6.58). These findings show that child maltreatment is associated with excessive dietary and screen time behaviors into adulthood, and these associations are present in racial/ethnic groups at high risk of cardiometabolic disease. Extension of an addiction paradigm to include dietary and screen time behaviors may inform health risks and disease prevention efforts in child maltreatment survivors.

URL

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2020.106176

Keyword(s)

Child abuse

Reference Type

Journal Article

Journal Title

Preventive Medicine

Author(s)

Cammack, Alison L.
Gazmararian, Julie A.
Suglia, Shakira F.

Year Published

2020

DOI

10.1016/j.ypmed.2020.106176

PMCID

PMC7494614

Reference ID

5948