A two-year study of parental obesity status and childhood obesity in China.

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND AIMS\nWe evaluated the association between parental obesity and their children s obesity parameters [e.g., percentage of body fat (PBF)] over time.\n\n\nMETHODS AND RESULTS\nThe study included 2066 Chinese parents-children trios (n\xa0=\xa01001 girls and 1065 boys, aged 6-14 years). Children s height, weight, waist circumference (WC) and PBF (bioelectrical impedance analysis) were annually assessed from 2014 (baseline) to 2016. Information on parental height and body weight, and children s diet and physical activity was collected in 2014. The association between parental obesity and changes in their children s PBF during follow-up was analyzed using a mixed effects model. We also examined changes in children s BMI and WC in secondary analyses. Baseline mean BMI, WC, and PBF for children were 17.6\xa0±\xa03.5\xa0kg/m2, 60.5\xa0±\xa09.6\xa0cm, and 16.6\xa0±\xa06.5%, respectively. We observed that maternal, but not paternal, obesity was associated with a greater increase in children s PBF during the follow-up. An adjusted mean difference in annual increase of PBF was 0.41% [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.01%, 0.84%] for children with obese mothers, compared with those with normal-weight mothers. Both maternal and paternal obesity was associated with a greater increase in their children s BMI and WC (p trend<0.01 for both); however, the associations were stronger in mother-children pairs than those in father-children pairs.\n\n\nCONCLUSIONS\nMaternal obesity was associated with a greater increase in PBF in Chinese school-aged children.