A developmental cascade perspective of paediatric obesity: a conceptual model and scoping review

ABSTRACT

Considering the immense challenge of preventing obesity, the time has come to reconceptualise the way we study the obesity development in childhood. The developmental cascade model offers a longitudinal framework to elucidate the way cumulative consequences and spreading effects of risk and protective factors, across and within biopsychosocial spheres and phases of development, can propel individuals towards obesity. In this article, we use a theory-driven model-building approach and a scoping review that included 310 published studies to propose a developmental cascade model of paediatric obesity. The proposed model provides a basis for testing hypothesised cascades with multiple intervening variables and complex longitudinal processes. Moreover, the model informs future research by resolving seemingly contradictory findings on pathways to obesity previously thought to be distinct (low self-esteem, consuming sugary foods, and poor sleep cause obesity) that are actually processes working together over time (low self-esteem causes consumption of sugary foods which disrupts sleep quality and contributes to obesity). The findings of such inquiries can aid in identifying the timing and specific targets of preventive interventions across and within developmental phases. The implications of such a cascade model of paediatric obesity for health psychology and developmental and prevention sciences are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Biopsychosocial model
• childhood obesity
• developmental cascade
• paediatric obesity

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Krystal Baker, Mariah Meachum, and Sarah Krennerich for their assistance with the study and the preparation of the manuscript, and Brook Belay and Andrea Graham for feedback on an earlier draft of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Justin D. Smith http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3264-8082

Danielle E. Jake-Schoffman http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6381-7323

Additional information

Funding

Justin Smith was supported by the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention [grant number DP006255], awarded to Justin Smith and Cady Berkel. Sara St. George was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health [grant number HL133521].