Parental and offspring adiposity associations: insights from the 1958 British birth cohort

Parent-offspring adiposity associations are well-established: offspring of obese parents have elevated risks of overweight/obesity. The aim of studies based on the 1958 British birth cohort has been to gain insights into explanations of these associations, such as whether parent-offspring BMI associations are due to offspring lifestyles or depend on socio-economic conditions.

All major studies on intergenerational adiposity associations in the three generations of the 1958 birth cohort were reviewed. In addition, BMI data for parents (G1) and the cohort (G2) were analysed stratified by social class.

BMI of G1 and G2 were correlated both when offspring were children and in mid-adulthood: a 1 kg/m(2) higher parental BMI was associated with an average 0.24-0.35 kg/m(2) higher offspring (mothers/fathers vs sons/daughters) BMI at 45 years. Associations were little affected by adjustment for lifestyle and socio-economic factors, but varied by social class: average BMI gain in offspring relative to parents was greater in lower classes, e.g. for males vs fathers by 3.6 and 2.5 kg/m(2) in classes IV&V and I&II, respectively. Parent-offspring BMI associations were stronger for recent (G2 and G3) than older (G1 and G2) generations.

Parent-offspring associations in BMI were not explained by offspring lifestyles, but varied over successive generations and by social class, suggesting that intergenerational transmission of adiposity at a population level is modifiable rather than immutable.