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Updated: May 16, 2026

Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
09:36

Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study

Published on: February 2, 2017

Parental anthropometrics, early growth and the risk of overweight in pre-school children: the Generation R Study

B Durmuş1, L R Arends, L Ay

  • 1The Generation R Study Group, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Pediatrics, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Pediatric Obesity
|December 15, 2012
PubMed

Insights

Maternal and paternal body measurements influence child growth. Parental obesity significantly increases a child's overweight risk by age 4, while maternal weight gain matters most for normal-weight mothers.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric growth and development
  • Public health and epidemiology
  • Maternal and child health

Background:

  • Limited data exist on maternal and paternal anthropometrics' association with early childhood growth.
  • Understanding parental influence on child growth is crucial for early intervention.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate associations between parental anthropometrics and preschool children's growth.
  • To examine the relationship between parental measurements and overweight risk in early childhood.

Main Methods:

  • Population-based prospective cohort study in the Netherlands.
  • Included 5674 mother-father-child triads, tracking from fetal life to age 4.
  • Analyzed maternal/paternal anthropometrics, gestational weight gain, and child growth outcomes.

Main Results:

  • Maternal and paternal height, weight, and BMI correlated with fetal and postnatal growth.
  • Maternal BMI had a stronger impact on child BMI than paternal BMI.
  • Children of two obese parents had a 6.52-fold increased risk of overweight at age 4.

Conclusions:

  • Parental anthropometrics differentially impact early childhood growth.
  • Maternal gestational weight gain is linked to child overweight risk, particularly in mothers with normal BMI.
Abstract

Keywords:
childhood overweightcohort studiesepidemiologyparental anthropometry

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