Grandparental and Parental Obesity Influences on Childhood Overweight: Implications for Primary Care Practice

Abstract

Background:Community-based studies have suggested a multigenerational pattern of obesity affecting children's risk of overweight, but no national data have substantiated such a pattern. Our objective was to examine the prevalence of overweight [body mass index (BMI) >95th percentile for age and sex] among children aged 5 to 19 in a national sample, stratified by the obesity status of their parents and grandparents.Methods: We used a secondary analysis of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, Child Development Supplement, a multigenerational, genealogical, prospective cohort study of the US population. Self-report height and weight data from adults and measured height and weight data for children were used to calculate BMI. The prevalence of child overweight was calculated for different possible combinations of parental and grandparental BMI status, including missing status.Results: The sample included 2591 children aged 5 to 19 years, for whom parental BMI data were available for 94% and grandparental BMI data were available for 61%. Prevalence of childhood overweight (18.6%) in the sample was comparable with contemporaneous measured national data from other sources. Among children with normal-weight parents and normal-weight grandparents, 7.9% were overweight. In contrast, among children with overweight parents (BMI 25-29.9) and normal-weight grandparents, 17.9% were overweight, and among children with obese parents (BMI >30) and normalweight grandparents, 31.9% were overweight (P < .0001). Importantly, when parents were normal weight, if grandparents were obese, then the prevalence of child overweight was 17.4% (P < .0001). The prevalence of child overweight was similarly elevated (16.4%) when parents were normal weight and grandparental BMI was missing.Conclusions: This is the first national study to find an association of child weight status with grandparental obesity, distinct from parental obesity. Primary care physicians may find it helpful to consider grandparents' weight status in judging risk of childhood overweight for their patients, especially when parents' weight is normal. (J Am Board Fam Med 2008;21:549 -54.)

Longitudinal follow-up of the relationship between dietary intake and growth and development in the Lifeways cross-generation cohort study 2001–2013

“…The 1958 birth cohort has described the relationship between birth-weight of the grandchild and the influence of height by the grandparents (57) . Only one other study by Davis et al (51) , has described a measure of BMI for grandparents. This study is limited, however, by the fact that grand maternal and grand paternal body composition was aggregated in the reported analysis.…”

Association of Parental E ducation and Illness with Obesity and Blood Pressure in 13-16 Year Old Girls

“…Children of overweight and hypertensive parents and grandparents are not only more likely to develop hypertension, but also have their BP tracking along the upper percentiles (5,6). Other health conditions like diabetes and cardiovascular diseases has also shown to be associated with childhood overweight and obesity.…”

“…Children having overweight or obese grandparents or parents are shown to be positively correlated with the risk of overweight and obesity in Korea 7 , Greece 5 and America 8 . A study conducted in Pune, India demonstrated that the prevalence of obesity and metabolic syndrome increased in children with an increase in metabolic syndrome components in parents 6 .…”

“…Grandparental and parental weight and metabolic status has been associated with childhood obesity [5][6] . Children having overweight or obese grandparents or parents are shown to be positively correlated with the risk of overweight and obesity in Korea 7 , Greece 5 and America 8 .…”

The influence of familial predisposition to cardiovascular complications upon childhood obesity treatment

“…One explanation may be the metabolic state of the children and their families, since it has been shown that a familial predisposition to obesity is associated with a poorer response to treatment [9,10,12,14]. Furthermore, a familial predisposition to obesity has been associated with the development of obesity in childhood [15][16][17][18]. The influence of a familial predisposition to obesity has been described in regards to parents [9,11,12,[14][15][16] especially the weight status of the mother [9,11,15], siblings [10], and grandparents [17,18] indicating that the high prevalence of overweight and obese children is dependent upon obesity among the family members.…”