Impact of Household Economic and Mothers’ Time Affluence on Obesity in Japanese Preschool Children: A Cross-sectional Study

Although the association between household economic affluence and children’s obesity has been reported, the association between mothers’ time affluence and obesity remains unclear. We conducted a cross-sectional study using Japanese national survey data (2015). The target population was 2–6-year-old preschool children and their mothers. Subjective household economic affluence and mothers’ time affluence were divided into “affluent,” “neither,” “less affluent,” and “non-affluent” groups. Obesity was defined based on the International Obesity Task Force. A logistic regression model was conducted to examine the association between household economic affluence, mothers’ time affluence, and children’s obesity. A total of 2254 respondents were included in the present analysis. The lower household economic affluence was not significantly associated with higher rates of children’s obesity (odds ratio (OR) for the “non-affluent” compared with the “affluent” group was 1.68 (95% CI, 0.93–3.03)). A lower mothers’ time affluence was not significantly associated with higher rates of children’s obesity (OR for the “non-affluent” compared with the “affluent” group was 1.67 (95% CI, 0.92–3.03)). The prevalence of obesity was not synergistically higher when lower household economic affluence and lower mothers’ time affluence were combined.