The concurrent and longitudinal associations of temperament and nutritional risk factors in early childhood.

BACKGROUND: Early childhood temperament is increasingly recognized as an important attribute that may impact screen time use, outdoor play and childhood obesity. The relationship between temperament and nutrition in preschool children is less clear.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study is to investigate if temperament dimensions (negative affectivity, effortful control and surgency) in early childhood are associated with nutritional risk factors.

METHODS: Six hundred seventy-eight children were followed (mean age at baseline visit 3.1 years; mean time to follow-up 16.5 months). Parents reported on child temperament and nutritional risk factors during regularly scheduled well-child clinic visits.

RESULTS: A mixed effect model demonstrated a significant association between higher negative affectivity (1.03; 95% CI 0.69 to 1.37) and higher effortful control (-0.88; 95% CI -1.27 to -0.49) on concurrent nutritional risk, independent of covariates. Multivariate linear regression analysis identified that higher effortful control, and not negative affectivity, was significantly associated with a decrease in nutritional risk (-0.67; 95% CI -1.10 to -0.24) over time, independent of covariates. There was no relationship identified between surgency and nutritional risk.

CONCLUSION: Three-year-old children with higher effortful control had reduced nutritional risk at 5 years of age. Future nutritional risk prevention strategies may benefit from interventions to increase effortful control in early childhood.