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Weights of parents and infants: is there a relationship?
A J Stunkard1, R I Berkowitz, V A Stallings
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, USA.
Insights
Parental obesity did not predict child body weight in the first two years. This suggests infant body weight may be influenced by factors independent of adult body mass index (BMI), complicating genetic obesity research.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Genetics
- Obesity Research
Background:
- Parental obesity is a risk factor for childhood obesity.
- Understanding early determinants of infant body weight is crucial for public health.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the association between parental body mass index (BMI) and infant body weight up to 24 months.
- To investigate if parental BMI influences infant weight, weight for length, and skinfold thickness.
Main Methods:
- Seventy-eight infants (high and low risk based on maternal obesity) were studied.
- Infant measurements (weight, weight for length, skinfold thickness) were taken at 3, 12, and 24 months.
- Multiple linear regression analyzed nine risk factors, including parental BMI, for infant weight outcomes.
Main Results:
- No significant differences in weight, weight for length, or skinfold thickness were found between high and low-risk groups at any measurement point.
- Paternal or maternal BMI did not significantly predict infant weight or weight for length at 12 or 24 months.
Conclusions:
- Infant body weight determinants may be separate from those influencing adult BMI.
- The genetic influences on infant body weight might be independent of adult BMI-related genetic factors.
- This independence could pose challenges in identifying genetic factors contributing to obesity.
Objective:
To assess the relationship between the measures of body weights of parents and those of their children during the first two years of life.
Subjects:
Seventy-eight infants born to obese ('high risk') or nonobese ('low risk') mothers.
Methods:
Weight, weight for length and skinfold thicknesses of the high and low risk infants were measured at 3 months, 12 months and 24 months of age. A multiple linear regression analysis assessed the contributions of nine risk factors, including paternal and maternal body mass index (BMI: kg/m2), to the weight and weight for length of infants at 12 months and 24 months of age.
Results:
There were no differences between the high and low risk groups in weight, weight for length or skinfold thicknesses at 3 months, 12 months or 24 months of age. Neither paternal nor maternal BMI entered the multiple regression.
Conclusions:
These results suggest that genetic influences on the body weight of infants may be independent of those that influence BMI in adults, a circumstance that could complicate the search for genetic determinants of obesity.