Transgenerational associations of parental famine exposure in early life with offspring risk of adult obesity in China

• Published in: Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) Vol. 31; no. 1; pp. 279 - 289
• Main Authors: Yao, Wei‐Yuan, Li, Leah, Jiang, Hui‐Ru, Yu, Yong‐Fu, Xu, Wang‐Hong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.01.2023
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Birth weight; Body mass index; Child; Child, Preschool; Children & youth; China - epidemiology; Disease; Famine; Fathers; Female; Food; Food supply; Humans; Male; Malnutrition; Mortality; Mothers; Nutrition; Obesity; Obesity - epidemiology; Obesity, Abdominal; Overweight; Overweight - epidemiology; Parents; Parents & parenting; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects - epidemiology; Questionnaires; Risk Factors; Starvation - epidemiology; China
• ISSN: 1930-7381; 1930-739X
• DOI: 10.1002/oby.23593

Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the transgenerational associations between exposure to famine in early life and obesity. Methods This study used the longitudinal data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey from 1989 to 2015. A total of 1113 fathers and 1207 mothers (946 mother–father pairs) born in 1955 to 1966 and 1895 adult offspring were included. Offspring were classified into subgroups according to the famine exposure of their parents (unexposed, maternal exposed, paternal exposed, parental exposed) and exposure timing (during fetal development, childhood). Results Maternal exposure to famine in early life was associated with elevated levels of BMI, waist circumference, overweight, and central obesity of their children, whereas paternal exposure was inversely associated with these measurements. Compared with children of unexposed parents (P0M0), the maternal exposed group (P0M1) had higher mean BMI, by 1.3 kg/m2 (95% CI: 0.3 to 2.4); waist circumference, by 1.5 cm (−1.0 to 3.9); overweight (odds ratio [OR] [95% CI]: 3.1 [1.6 to 6.1]); and central obesity (OR [95% CI]: 1.9 [1.02 to 3.7]). No significant heterogeneity was observed in the associations by sex of offspring. Conclusions Fetal and early childhood exposure to famine in parents may be associated with their children's risk of obesity during adulthood. A better understanding of the transgenerational associations is important for developing strategies to reduce obesity risk in future generations.