Association between Obesity and Parental Weight Status in Children and Adolescents

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to assess the relationship between body mass index (BMI) of children and that of their parents in a nationally-representative sample of Iranian population. Methods: This cross-sectional nationwide study was conducted in 2011-2012 among 6-18-year-old students and their parents living in 30 provinces of Iran. Socio-demographic information was collected. The BMI values of the children/adolescents were categorized according to the World Health Organization reference curves. Association between parental and student weight status was examined using ordinal regression models after adjustment for potential confounders. Results: Overall, 23043 children and adolescents and one of their parents participated in this study (50.7 boys, 73.4 urban status). Mean age of the subjects was 12.55 +/- 3.31 years. Mean BMI values of parents and children/adolescents were 27.0 +/- 4.57 and 18.8 +/- 4.4 kg/m2, respectively. After adjusting for confounders, overweight and/or obesity in students of both genders was found to be significantly associated with parental overweight and/or obesity. In those students who had obese parents, the odds ratio (OR) of being obese was 2.79 for boys OR = 2.79; 95% confidence interval (CI)= 2.44-3.20 and 3.46 for girls (OR = 3.46; 95% CI = 3.03-3.94) compared to their peers with normal-weight parents. Boys with overweight parents were 1.7 times more overweight than their counterparts with normal-weight parents (OR = 1.70; 95% CI = 1.15-1.92). Similarly, girls who had overweight parents were more overweight compared to those with normal-weight parents (OR = 2.00; 95% CI = 1.77-2.25). Conclusion: Our findings highlight the importance of the shared family environment as a multi-factorial contributor to the childhood obesity epidemic and the necessity of implementing family-centered preventive programs.