Preventing Childhood Obesity Should Include Family Interventions

Healthy maternal lifestyle during mid-childhood years was associated with a 75% lower risk for obesity in later childhood and adolescence.

Debate about the relative roles of genetics and environment in the genesis of childhood obesity continues. To examine the possible effect of maternal health lifestyle on childhood obesity risk, researchers prospectively assessed obesity in nearly 1300 nonobese children (ages 9–14 years) of participants in the Nurses' Health Study II. Maternal lifestyle factors deemed low-risk were normal body-mass index (BMI), healthy diet, regular exercise, no current smoking, and low-to-moderate alcohol intake. Findings were as follows:

Five percent of the cohort became obese during a median follow-up of 5 years.
Children of mothers with a BMI ≥30 had a threefold higher risk for becoming obese compared with children of mothers with a BMI <25.
Children of for…

Reviewing Author

F. Bruder Stapleton, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardCareer Physician

Editorial BoardsUpToDate

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesAmerican Society of Pediatric Nephrology Foundation (Chair)

F. Bruder Stapleton, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardCareer Physician

Editorial BoardsUpToDate

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesAmerican Society of Pediatric Nephrology Foundation (Chair)

Preventing Childhood Obesity Should Include Family Interventions

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Reviewing Author