Association between Mothers’ Working Hours and Metabolic Syndrome in Children and Adolescents: Data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2016–2020

Lee, Myoung-hye; Jeong, Joo-Eun; Park, Hoon-Ki; Hwang, Hwan-Sik; Park, Kye-Yeung

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Original Article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4082/kjfm.23.0157 [Epub ahead of print]
Published online May 8, 2024.

Association between Mothers’ Working Hours and Metabolic Syndrome in Children and Adolescents: Data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2016–2020

Myoung-hye Lee

Department of Family Medicine, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

Corresponding author: Hoon-Ki Park, Tel: +82-2-2290-8738, Fax: +82-2-2281-7279,
Email: hoonkp@hanyang.ac.kr

Received: 29 August 2023 • Revised: 30 November 2023 • Accepted: 21 December 2023

Abstract

Background
Prevention and management of metabolic syndrome (MetS) during childhood are crucial. Recently, obesity among children and adolescents has increased with an increase in mothers’ working hours. The present study was conducted to determine the relationship between mothers’ working hours and MetS in their children.
Methods
Data from the 2016–2020 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were used, and 2,598 children and adolescents aged 10–18 years were included. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to confirm the association between MetS and mothers’ working hours for each risk factor. Linear regression analysis was conducted to confirm the association between mothers’ working hours and the number of risk factors for MetS.
Results
Abdominal obesity in children was higher when the mothers’ working hours were 53 hours or more (odds ratio [OR], 2.267; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.21–4.25). In the trend analysis, the OR of children’s abdominal obesity increased significantly as mothers’ working hours increased (P-value <0.05). Additionally, sex-stratified analysis revealed a significant trend between maternal work hours and the presence of MetS in female children (P=0.016). The adjusted OR of the presence of MetS in female children with mothers working 53 hours or more weekly was 6.065 (95% CI, 1.954–18.822).
Conclusion
Mothers’ working hours were highly correlated with the risk of abdominal obesity in their children. The OR of the presence of MetS significantly increased in female children with mothers having longer working hours compared with those with stay-at-home mothers.

Key Words: Mother; Workload; Child; Adolescent; Metabolic Syndrome; Obesity; Risk Factors