Understanding family dynamics of obesity: Do parents and children lose and gain weight together?
Authors' conclusion
Parents and children have concordant weight trajectories, and public health interventions targeting both populations are essential.
Study context
- Population
- Parent-child dyads, NYC Health + Hospitals system, March 2020–December 2021; children mean (SD) baseline age 9.84 (3.51), 1889 female; 3220 parents, mean (SD) age 39.9 (8.51), 2988 female
- Participants
- 3,821 parent-child dyads
- Exposure
- Parent vs child body mass index (BMI) category change; child mBMIz change by parental BMI category
- Outcome
- Association between parent and child undesirable BMI category change
Methodological detailsNYC Health + Hospitals system
- NYC Health + Hospitals system
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Undesirable BMI category change in children associated with concordant change in parents
Undesirable BMI change in children associated with concordant change in parents, aOR
1.7 (1.45, 2.01), adjusted p < 0.001 (95% CI)
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
| Outcome | Adjusted coef (95% CI) | P value |
|---|---|---|
| Child annual mBMIz change by parental BMI categoryParental obesity vs Parental normal weight or underweight · greater mBMIz change with parental obesity | 0.076 (0.004–0.147) | P < 0.038 |
| Child annual mBMIz change by parental BMI categoryParental severe obesity vs Parental normal weight or underweight · greater mBMIz change with parental severe obesity | 0.1317 (0.024–0.239) | adjusted p < 0.016 |
Overweight and obesity at presentation
- Children with overweight and obesity
- 53.52%
- Parents with overweight and obesity
- 81.94%
Original publication
Understanding family dynamics of obesity: Do parents and children lose and gain weight together? Pediatr Obes. Published 7 April 2024. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →