Investigating the association between parental educational status and offspring obesity risk using the Japan...

Previous studies have demonstrated an inverse relationship between socioeconomic status and childhood obesity in affluent nations, with parental education as a key factor. However, the meaning of socioeconomic indicators may vary by race and country, and research on this topic in Asian countries is limited.

We investigated the association between parents' educational status and childhood obesity in Japan.

We utilized data from Japan's birth cohort, recruiting participants from 2011 to 2014, and included 49 564 children. Parental educational status was categorized into four groups: both parents with lower education (LM-LF), mothers with higher education and fathers with lower education (HM-LF), mothers with lower education and fathers with higher education (LM-HF), and both parents with higher education (HM-HF). Multivariable logistic regression analyzed the association between parental education and overweight/obesity among 4-year-old children.

Of the participants, 17.9%, 16.9%, 16.2% and 15.4% were overweight/obese; and 5.5%, 4.6%, 4.4% and 3.8% were obese in LM-LF, HM-LF, LM-HF and HM-HF groups, respectively. When the reference group was defined as children born to parents with HM-HF, the adjusted odds ratios for overweight/obesity in LM-LF, HM-LF and LM-HF were 1.13 (95% confidence intervals [CI]: 1.06-1.21), 1.08 (95% CI: 1.01-1.15) and 1.03 (95% CI: 0.95-1.12); and those for obesity were 1.34 (95% CI: 1.20-1.50), 1.16 (95% CI: 1.04-1.31) and 1.11 (95% CI: 0.96-1.28), respectively.

Lower educational status in both parents was associated with overweight/obesity among 4-year-old children in Japan. Public policies might target parents with lower education to prevent childhood obesity.