ArticleObesity facts2012
Is childhood obesity influenced by dog ownership? No cross-sectional or longitudinal evidence.
Article in Obesity facts, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Association between Pet Ownership and Obesity: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Pooled it
- Companion Animals and Child/Adolescent Development: A Systematic Review of the Evidence.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2017Pooled it
- Article
- Early Exposure to Animals and Childhood Body Mass Index Percentile and Percentage Fat Mass.Child and adolescent obesity (Abingdon, England) · 2022Article
- Demographic and contextual factors as moderators of the relationship between pet ownership and health.Health psychology and behavioral medicine · 2021Article
- Animal-Assisted Intervention: A Promising Approach to Obesity Prevention for Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorder.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2021Article
- Socio-demographic factors associated with pet ownership amongst adolescents from a UK birth cohort.BMC veterinary research · 2019Article
- Pet Ownership and Children's Emotional Expression: Propensity Score-Matched Analysis of Longitudinal Data from Japan.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Article
- The association between dog ownership or dog walking and fitness or weight status in childhood.Pediatric obesity · 2017Article
- A cross-sectional study of frequency and factors associated with dog walking in 9-10 year old children in Liverpool, UK.BMC public health · 2013Article
- Dog ownership during pregnancy, maternal activity, and obesity: a cross-sectional study.PloS one · 2012Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo examine whether dog ownership is associated with lower risk of childhood obesity.
methodsCross-sectional study of 7,759 children at age 7 years in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) in the UK. In addition, longitudinal analyses were conducted between age 7 and 9 years. BMI at age 7 and 9 years was calculated from clinic-measured weight and height and standardised in reference to 1990 UK data. Dog ownership data were collected by carer questionnaire at various time points.
resultsAfter adjustment for confounding factors associated with dog ownership or obesity, there was no evidence of an association between obesity and dog ownership at 7 years OR = 1.18, 95% confidence interval = 0.88-1.59, p = 0.27), or dog ownership history. There was also no evidence for an effect of dog ownership on BMI change between 7 and 9 years, nor acquisition of a dog on the change in weight status of obese children between 7 and 9 years.
conclusionThis study provides no evidence for a protective effect of dog ownership on the development of childhood obesity. Further investigation is required to determine the impact of dog ownership on physical activity in overweight and obese children.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.