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Intergenerational transmission of overweight among Finnish adolescents and their parents: a 16-year follow-up study

International Journal of Obesity volume 35, pages 1289–1294 (2011)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Objective:

Previous studies have shown strong parental influences on adolescent overweight. However, longitudinal data is scarce on gender-specific effects of parental body mass index (BMI) on offspring overweight. The objective of this study was to examine the associations of parental pre-pregnancy BMI, weight change, BMI and BMI class transition 16 years after pregnancy with the BMI of their 16-year-old children.

Subjects and methods:

The study population was derived from the general population-based Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986. A total of 4788 child–mother–father trios (2325 boys, 2463 girls) were analysed. Weight and height of the adolescents were measured and overweight and obesity defined according to the International Obesity Task Force. For the parents, self-reported data were obtained and overweight and obesity defined according to the World Health Organization. Associations of parental BMI status and weight change with offspring BMI were assessed using binary logistic regression analyses stratified by gender and adjusted for parental age and education.

Results:

Children whose both parents were overweight or obese both before pregnancy and after 16-year follow-up had a strikingly high risk of overweight at age 16 years (boys odds ratio (OR) 5.66 95% confidence interval (CI) 3.12, 10.27; girls OR 14.84 95% CI 7.41, 29.73). Parental pre-pregnancy obesity strongly predicted offspring overweight (mother–son OR 4.36 95% CI 2.50, 7.59; mother–daughter OR 3.95 95% CI 2.34, 6.68; father–son OR 3.17 95% CI 1.70, 5.92; father–daughter OR 5.58 95% CI 3.09, 10.07).

Conclusion:

Parental overweight conveys a major risk for overweight in children for which both parents’ long-term overweight (BMI ⩾25 kg m−2 before pregnancy and after 16-year follow-up) was the strongest single predictor. Preventing intergenerational transmission of obesity by helping parents to maintain a healthy weight is an essential target for public health.

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Acknowledgements

This study was conducted by the support of the Academy of Finland (SALVE programme; Grant number 129269) and the Nordic Centre of Excellence on ‘Systems biology in controlled interventions and cohort studies’ (SYSDIET; project number 070014). We thank Ms Marika Kaakinen for her support in data delivery and management.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Nutrition, Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland

    A Jääskeläinen, J Pussinen, O Nuutinen, U Schwab & M Kolehmainen

  2. Institute of Clinical Medicine, Internal Medicine, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland

    U Schwab

  3. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland

    J Pirkola

  4. Institute of Health Sciences, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

    M-R Järvelin

  5. Biocenter Oulu, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

    M-R Järvelin

  6. Department of Lifecourse and Services, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Oulu, Finland

    M-R Järvelin

  7. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Imperial College London, London, UK

    M-R Järvelin

  8. Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Oulu, Finland

    J Laitinen

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  1. A Jääskeläinen
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Correspondence to A Jääskeläinen.

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Jääskeläinen, A., Pussinen, J., Nuutinen, O. et al. Intergenerational transmission of overweight among Finnish adolescents and their parents: a 16-year follow-up study. Int J Obes 35, 1289–1294 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2011.150

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