Alicia S Kunin-Batson, Jacob Haapala, A Lauren Crain, Megan R Gunnar, Elyse O Kharbanda, Aaron S Kelly, Elisabeth M Seburg, Nancy E Sherwood, Simone A French
OBJECTIVE: To prospectively evaluate the relationship between cumulative environmental stress and cardiometabolic risk in middle childhood, and to examine whether hair cortisol, a measure of hypothalamic pituitary adrenal-axis activity, mediates this relationship. METHODS: In a cohort of children from low-income households (n = 320; 59% Hispanic, 23% Black, body mass index (BMI) percentile >50th at enrollment), environmental stressors including family and neighbourhood factors representing disadvantage/deprivation, and cortisol concentrations from hair samples, were measured over five timepoints beginning when children were 2-4 years old...
March 28, 2024: Pediatric Obesity