Associated factors to family dysfunction in obese and non obese school children

With the purpose to demonstrate that there are risk factors of family dysfunction of obese school children it was carried out a case‐control study 452 subjects, 156 obese and 296 non obese of 6 to 9 years old belonging to nuclear families of a Family Medicine Unit of the Social Security System in Mexico. Cases: obese schoolchildren with BMI ≥ 95 percentile and tricipital skin fold (> 90 percentile); Controls: non obese schoolchildren (BMI percentile > 5 and < 85 percentile). Socioeconomic and demographic variables were included. Family dynamic was evaluated through an instrument with 85 questions related to eight areas: I. Couple dynamic; II. Identity formation; III. Communication; IV. Authority structure; V. Management of conflict; VI. Discipline and method; VII. Values System; VIII. Sociocultural integration. Odds ratio (CI 95%) and logistic regression model were estimated. Dysfunctional families [OR = 1.63 (1.08, 2.46)] and unmarried vs. married couples by civil and religious laws [OR 2.48 (1.34, 4.60)] were associated to children obesity. Low literacy of fathers and mothers were significantly associated to family dysfunction [OR 2.06 (1.37, 3.10) and OR 2.47 (1.57, 3.89), respectively]. Low income families, low food expenses were associated to family dysfunction (p < 0.05). In the logistic regression, family dysfunction [OR 1.80 (1.19, 2.73)] and low literacy of mothers [OR 1.61 (1.06, 2.45)] were the major risk factors of obesity. Therefore, family dysfunction seems to be a risk factor for obesity and that there are some features in nuclear families more related to family dysfunction.