%0 Thesis
%9 Master
%A Ellens, T.M.
%D 2020
%F theses_frw:1941
%T The effect of single motherhood on childhood obesity
%U https://frw.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/1941/
%X Levels of childhood obesity are increasing globally since the start of the 21st century, as well as the number of single mother households. Literature shows that children living in single mother households are more likely to obese. However, there is a lack of information on how these differences in obesity prevalence arise. Therefore, this study aims to explore factors behind the association in order to fully understand how single motherhood affects childhood obesity. Results show that knowledge of the mother has a significant effect on childhood obesity. Moreover, the effect of living in a single mother household is becoming insignificant after adding the explanatory variables to the model. In conclusion, this study highlights the important role of education of the mother in the development of childhood obesity as well as single motherhood being a risk factor of low education.