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Parental preconception BMI trajectories from childhood to adolescence and asthma in the future offspring

Gayan Bowatte1, Dinh S Bui2, Sajith Priyankara3

  • 1Allergy and Lung Health Unit, Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia; Department of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.

The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
|January 10, 2022
PubMed

Insights

Paternal high body mass index (BMI) trajectories before conception are linked to increased asthma risk in offspring. This generational study highlights the importance of parental pre-conception health on child asthma development.

Area of Science:

  • Epidemiology
  • Public Health
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Parental exposures prior to conception may influence offspring asthma risk.
  • Understanding the impact of parental body mass index (BMI) trajectories on asthma development is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between parents' preconception body mass index (BMI) trajectories from childhood to adolescence and their offspring's subsequent risk of asthma.
  • To identify specific BMI patterns in parents that may predict asthma development in their children.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized group-based trajectory modeling from the Tasmanian Longitudinal Health Study to define parental BMI trajectories (ages 4-15).
  • Employed multinomial regression models, adjusted for confounders, to assess the link between parental BMI trajectories and offspring asthma phenotypes.
  • Included 1822 parents and 4208 offspring in the main analysis.

Main Results:

  • Identified four distinct parental BMI trajectories: low, normal, above normal, and high.
  • A high BMI trajectory in fathers before conception was associated with an increased risk of asthma in offspring before age 10 (RRR=1.70) and allergic asthma ever (RRR=2.05).
  • No significant associations were found between maternal BMI trajectories and offspring asthma, nor was birth weight a mediating factor.

Conclusions:

  • A paternal high BMI trajectory, established years before conception, is associated with an increased risk of asthma in offspring.
  • This generational study underscores the long-term impact of paternal pre-conception health on offspring respiratory health.
  • Findings suggest potential targets for asthma prevention through paternal weight management prior to conception.
Abstract

Keywords:
Body mass indexasthmaepigeneticsintergenerationalpreconceptiontransgenerational

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