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Design Secondary data analysis using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth.

Setting A nationally representative household sample of men and women from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth.

Participants The study sample includes 6552 mother-child dyads interviewed biennially between January 1, 1992, and December 31, 2002; children were 0 to 10 years old at baseline.

Main Outcome Measures Maternal self-reports of child internalizing and externalizing behaviors were assessed repeatedly using a modified Child Behavior Checklist.

Results Linear growth curve models indicate that the adverse effects of maternal depressive symptoms on child problem behavior trajectories become negligible after controlling for the father's involvement and other covariates, including the child's age, sex, and race/ethnicity; the mother's educational level; maternal age at child birth; number of children; poverty status; urban residence; and father's residential status. Positive involvement by the father was inversely associated with child problem behavior trajectories. The effects of maternal depressive symptoms on child problem behaviors varied by the level of the father's positive involvement.

Conclusion When the father actively compensates for limitations in the depressed mother's functioning, the child's risk of problem behaviors may be reduced.

Design: A secondary analysis of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) Main and Child Cohorts was conducted on more than 1,000 Hispanic, African American, and non-Hispanic/non-African American? (NHNAA) children, aged 3?6 years. MCFPs were measured by three interview questions probing mother-allotted child food choice, child compliance during meals, and child obedience during meals.

Results: Mothers of NHNAA children allotted greater food choice than mothers of African American or Hispanic children. Maternal BMI and other demographic measures were unrelated to MCFPs. The lowest levels of mother-allotted child food choice and child eating compliance were associated with reduced child BMI, with mean BMI z-scores = -.36 and -.41 respectively. Effect sizes were small, however, and MCFPs did not discriminate children who were overweight or at-risk for overweight from children who were not (p> .05).

Conclusions: Feeding strategies providing the least child food choice were associated with reduced child BMI. However, feeding relations did not relate to child overweight status.

Design: Longitudinal analysis.

Setting: United States of America.

Participants: A total of 8157 adolescents and young adults aged 14 to 21 years at the start of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 with self-reported measures of height, weight, and diabetes status (type unspecified) from 1981 through 2006.

Main Exposure: Excess BMI-years, which were calculated by subtracting the actual BMI from the reference BMI (25.0 for adults or 85th percentile for adolescents) for each study year and cumulating excess BMI for the study duration.

Main Outcome Measure: We conducted logistic regression models to predict presumed type 2 diabetes (after excluding presumed type 1 diabetes) as a function of age, sex, race, excess BMI-years, and specific interactions.

Results: A higher level of excess BMI-years was associated with an increased risk of diabetes. For example, on average, white men aged 40 years with 200 excess BMI-years had 2.94 times (95% confidence interval, 2.36-3.67) higher odds of developing diabetes compared with men of the same age and race with 100 excess BMI-years. For a given level of excess BMI-years, younger compared with older and Hispanic and black compared with white individuals had higher risk of developing diabetes. Our study is limited by use of self-reported data without specification of diabetes type.

Conclusions: Because younger compared with older individuals have a higher risk of self-reported diabetes for a given level of excess BMI-years and cumulative exposure to excess BMI is increasing among younger US birth cohorts, public health interventions should target younger adults.

Objective: To test the independent effects of television viewing in children before age 3 years and at ages 3 to 5 years on several measures of cognitive outcomes at ages 6 and 7 years.

Design: Using data from a nationally representative data set, we regressed 4 measures of cognitive development at ages 6 and 7 years on television viewing before age 3 years and at ages 3 to 5 years, controlling for parental cognitive stimulation throughout early childhood, maternal education, and IQ.

Results: Before age 3 years, the children in this study watched an average of 2.2 hours per day; at ages 3 to 5 years, the daily average was 3.3 hours. Adjusted for the covariates mentioned earlier, each hour of average daily television viewing before age 3 years was associated with deleterious effects on the Peabody Individual Achievement Test Reading Recognition Scale of 0.31 points (95% confidence interval [CI], –0.61 to –0.01 points), on the Peabody Individual Achievement Test Reading Comprehension Scale of 0.58 points (95% CI, –0.94 to –0.21 points), and on the Memory for Digit Span assessment from the Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children of –0.10 points (95% CI, –0.20 to 0 points). For the Reading Recognition Scale score only, a beneficial effect of television at ages 3 to 5 years was identified, with each hour associated with a 0.51-point improvement in the score (95% CI, 0.17 to 0.85 points).

Conclusions: There are modest adverse effects of television viewing before age 3 years on the subsequent cognitive development of children. These results suggest that greater adherence to the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines that children younger than 2 years not watch television is warranted.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether cognitive stimulation, emotional support, and television viewing at age 4 years are independently associated with being a bully at ages 6 through 11 years.

METHODS: We used multivariate logistic regression, using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, to adjust for multiple confounding factors.

RESULTS: Parental cognitive stimulation and emotional support at age 4 years were each independently protective against bullying, with a significant odds ratio of 0.67 for both variables associated with a 1-SD increase (95% confidence interval, 0.54-0.82 for cognitive stimulation and 0.54-0.84 for emotional support). Each hour of television viewed per day at age 4 years was associated with a significant odds ratio of 1.06 (95% confidence interval, 1.02-1.11) for subsequent bullying. These findings persisted when we controlled for bullying behavior at age 4 years in a subsample of children for whom this measure was available.

CONCLUSION: The early home environment, including cognitive stimulation, emotional support, and exposure to television, has a significant impact on bullying in grade school.