Parental adiposity differentially associates with newborn body composition.

Area of Science:

• Human health and development
• Pediatrics
• Endocrinology

Background:

• Maternal obesity is a known risk factor for offspring obesity.
• Limited research has explored the impact of parental metabolic health, physical activity, and paternal adiposity on offspring body composition.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between parental adiposity and newborn adiposity.
• To explore associations between parental fat mass and offspring growth factors at age two.

Main Methods:

• Utilized air displacement plethysmography to measure percent fat mass in mothers and newborns (2 weeks old).
• Incorporated maternal factors like race, age, energy expenditure, physical activity, gestational weight gain, gestational age, delivery mode, infant sex, and feeding method into regression analyses.
• Assessed the link between parental fat mass and offspring insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) at age two.

Main Results:

• Maternal adiposity positively correlated with infant fat mass in both sexes.
• Paternal adiposity showed a negative association with fat mass in male newborns.
• Factors like breastfeeding, female infant sex, gestational age, and gestational weight gain were positively associated with newborn adiposity.

Conclusions:

• Parental adiposity exhibits differential associations with newborn adiposity.
• The underlying mechanisms driving these observed associations require further investigation.