Obesity in adolescence is associated with perinatal risk factors, parental BMI and sociodemographic characteristics

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: To record the prevalence of overweight and obesity in primary-school children in relation to perinatal risk factors, parental body mass index and sociodemographics. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A sample of 2294 schoolchildren aged 9-13 years was examined in municipalities from four Greek counties. Weight and height were measured using standard procedures, whereas international thresholds were used for the definition of overweight and obesity. Perinatal and parental data were also recorded via standardized questionnaires. RESULTS: The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 30.5% and 11.6%, respectively, with a higher prevalence of obesity in boys compared with girls (13.7% vs 9.5%, P CONCLUSIONS: The current study identified certain perinatal factors (that is, maternal pre-pregnancy obesity, maternal smoking at pregnancy, rapid infant weight gain and late introduction of solid foods at weaning) and parental characteristics (that is, younger fathers, Greek nationality, less educated and overweight parents) as important risk factors for children's overweight and obesity, indicating the multifactorial nature of their etiology and the need to extend our understanding beyond positive energy equilibrium. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2013) 67, 115-121; doi: 10.1038/ejcn.2012.176; published online 12 December 2012 Keywords: children; demographics; obesity; parental BMI; perinatal; socioeconomic
INTRODUCTION Several studies have established an association between adult obesity and risk for mortality from chronic disease. (1,2) At the same time, there is a trend of increasing adult obesity [...]