Effect of parental fatness levels on the fatness of biological and adoptive children

Effects of the Head Start Program on Socioecological Obesogenic Factors in American Children

Head Start is a nationwide developmental program for low-income families. This study aimed to investigate the association between the Head Start program and children’s BMI status, as well as their quality of life with respect to socioecological obesogenic factors. This cross-sectional study employed the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten cohort (ECLS-K) in which the data were collected in 2007 and analyzed in 2019. Propensity-score matching analysis was performed to examine the association between the Head Start program and children’s BMI status, as well as the quality of life, controlling for socioecological obesogenic factors. A total of 3753 children (representing 1,284,209 at the population level) were recruited in this study (mean age: 13.69 years; girls: 49.42%). In the final matched model, the program did not have a statistically significant effect on children’s obesity. Fewer African American children participated in school-sponsored activities, perceived themselves as overweight, lived in a household with fewer family members, had less strict TV regulations, and were more likely to be overweight than their counterparts. Outcomes suggest that multiple dimensions of sociological obesogenic factors including individual, parental, familial, and community support factors affect the weight of children from low-income families and should be considered when establishing behavioral and policy interventions to thwart the childhood obesity epidemic.

Longitudinal analysis of Socioecological obesogenic factors in a National Sample of U.S. children

BACKGROUND

Childhood obesity is a serious public health threat. Although many researchers conducted research on socioecological determinants of childhood obesity, their longitudinal effects remain inconclusive especially among young children. This study examined socioecological factors and associated transitions of children's body mass index (BMI) status throughout children's kindergarten to elementary school years, using data from a national longitudinal sample.

METHODS

The baseline sample of this study included 1264 children (weighted N = 379,297) extracted from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (baseline mean age: 5.24 years). The socioecological framework guided selection of socioecological obesogenic variables (e.g., family activity and parental involvement). Longitudinal ordered logistic regressions were performed to determine the associations between socioecological obesogenic variables and unhealthy/healthy changes in BMI status that captured transitions between healthy and unhealthy weight status (i.e., overweight, obesity, and severe obesity).

RESULTS

Children with Hispanic ethnicity and nonwhite, less socioeconomic and environmental support, and living in households with fewer family members were more likely than their counterparts to have unhealthy BMI status changes over time (all ps < 0.05). Over the study period, girls were less likely than boys to experience transitions to unhealthy BMI status (all ps < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

As hypothesized a priori, the findings of the current affirmed multiple dimensions of how sociological obesogenic factors may influence children's BMI status changes in a longitudinal setting. In order to maintain children's long-term healthy weight, more attention should be paid to socioeconomic obesogenic factors surrounding children as well as individual determinants of obesity (e.g., being physically active and having well-balanced nutrition).

The pedigree of baraitric surgery: A case series of revisional surgery post laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy in 3 sisters

Introduction

Obesity is a complex disease involving multiple factors that play a role in its development, including genetics. Given the high prevalence of obesity in Kuwait, this is of particular interest.

Case

This is a case of 3 sisters that presented to a single surgeon for morbid obesity with starting body mass indexes (BMI) of 46.9 kg/m²,56 kg/m²,and 51.3 kg/m². All three elected to undergo a laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy as an initial procedure. They presented to thier surgeon 5.5 years later with weight regain. The first patient elected to undergo a Laparoscopic Re-Sleeve Gastrectomy, the second Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass, and the third Single-Anastomosis Gastric Bypass. The patients were followed up for 2-years post-revisional, for which the % EWL was 35.5%, 48.4% and 25.2%, respectively.

Conclusion

Our study was also able demonstrate how effective revisional surgery is, when genetics are accounted for, with our results showing RYGB as a revisional procedure being superior to the other options.

Familial Aggregation of Morbid Obesity

Recent studies have shown major gene effects for obesity in randomly ascertained families. To investigate the familial aggregation of a specific subset of obesity, which is particularly prone to medical complications, families with morbid obesity were studied. This condition occurs in 1%-2% of the population and is defined as 45.5 kg (100 pounds) or more over ideal weight. First-degree relatives of 221 morbidly obese probands (1560 adults) were identified, and height and weight (current and greatest) were obtained from each family member. Morbid obesity occurred in the family members of the probands 8 times more often than in the general population. Of the morbidly obese probands, 48% had one or more first-degree relatives who were also morbidly obese compared to a 6% population estimate. By the ages of 20-24, 12% of the morbidly obese probands were already 45.5 kg or more overweight, and 45% were 22.7 kg (50 pounds) or more overweight. There was little difference in the prevalence of familial morbid obesity by the gender of the probands: 47% of the male probands and 48% of the female probands had another morbidly obese relative, while 67% and 53% of the early onset (before age 25) male and female probands, respectively, had one or more first-degree relatives who were also morbidly obese. In addition to the extreme degree of familial aggregation, the prevalence of morbid obesity in parent-offspring sets was calculated within the morbidly obese families. Morbidly obese families who have one or two morbidly obese parents have a 2.6 times increased risk (p<0.002) of having one or more morbidly obese adult offspring, compared to families who have neither parent morbidly obese. Evidence for trimodality of the body mass index distribution was found for each gender (p = 0.0006 for male relatives and p = 0.075 for female relatives). The strong familial aggregation of morbid obesity indicates the need for further understanding of the genetic determinants of this extreme clinical disorder and how environmental factors affect the genetic expression of the trait.

Influence of parental obesity on the physical constitution of preschool children in Japan

The objective of this study was to assess the influence of parental obesity on the physical constitution of preschool children. A total of 3187 children aged between 1-6 years and their parents were studied. A child whose per cent obesity (%OB; per cent overweight for age, height and sex) was greater than 15%, and a parent whose body mass index (BMI; kg/m2) was greater than the 95th percentile were defined to be obese (27.40 and 25.97 for a father and a mother, respectively). We found that the incidence of obesity in children with obese fathers (11.5%) was significantly higher than in those with non-obese fathers (6.2%), and a similar difference was obtained between children with obese mothers (14.5%) and with non-obese mothers (6.2%), respectively. The incidence of obesity in children was 6.0% if both parents were non-obese; this incidence rose to 22.7% if one parent was obese, and to 30.8% if both were obese. The %OB of children was more markedly correlated with the mothers' BMI (r = 0.219) than the fathers' BMI (r = 0.165). The %OB of children correlated significantly with fathers' BMI, but only from the age of 3-6 years, whereas mothers' BMI correlated from the age of 1-6 years. We conclude that parental obesity was of significance in determining the development of juvenile obesity even in the preschool period.

Mother-daughter correlations of obesity and cardiovascular disease risk factors in black and white households: the NHLBI Growth and Health Study

OBJECTIVES

This study sought to evaluate obesity as a potential explanatory factor for the increased relative risk for cardiovascular disease in Black compared with White women.

METHODS

Familial associations for obesity and cardiovascular disease risk factors were assessed in 720 White and 580 Black mother-daughter pairs from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Growth and Health Study by using Pearson's chi square, Spearman's correlations, and partial correlations.

RESULTS

Black girls and mothers were significantly heavier and had higher body mass indices than their White counterparts. In each racial group, significant, positive mother-daughter correlations existed for weight, body mass index, and triceps skinfolds, and for all cardiovascular disease risk factors. Obesity measures correlated positively with systolic blood pressure and triglycerides and inversely with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in girls and mothers of both races. Correlations between mothers and daughters for exercise and ideal body shape were weak and did not explain obesity associations.

CONCLUSIONS

Intrafamilial associations of obesity, cardiovascular disease risk factors, and the obesity-cardiovascular disease risk factor relationship support the position that increased cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality rates in Black women may be linked to excess obesity in Black women compared with White ones.

Childhood obesity: an update

Childhood obesity is an increasing health problem in the United States, and it is positively correlated with eventual adult obesity. Childhood obesity is related to many of the same risk factors as adult obesity, most notably cardiovascular and psychosocial factors. Prevention or detection and management of the problem in childhood is warranted. This article describes assessment of obesity, predictors for its development, and components of treatment programs that are successful in children. Information is based on review of the literature and the author's experience working with obese children in a pediatric practice.

Thinness--not obesity--has a genetic component

The body mass of adoptees was compared with the body mass of both biologic and adoptive parents using data from the Danish Adoption Register. Chi-square analyses revealed that biologic heritability is small and is confined to thin, not obese body mass. It is probable that the inheritance of thin body mass constitutes a mild protective factor that mitigates against development of obesity caused by environmental factors.

Genetics of obesity in adult adoptees and their biological siblings

An adoption study of genetic effects on obesity in adulthood was carried out in which adoptees separated from their natural parents very early in life were compared with their biological full and half siblings reared by their natural parents. The adoptees represented four groups who by sampling from a larger population were categorised as either thin, medium weight, overweight, or obese. Weight and height were obtained for 115 full siblings of 57 adoptees and for 850 half siblings of 341 adoptees. In full siblings body mass index (kg/m2) significantly increased with weight of the adoptees. Body mass index of the half siblings showed a steady but weaker increase across the four weight groups of adoptees. There were no significant interactions with sex of the adoptees, sex of the siblings, or (for the half siblings) sex of the common parent. In contrast with the findings in half siblings and (previously) the natural parents there was a striking, significant increase in body mass index between full siblings of overweight and obese adoptees. The degree of fatness in adults living in the same environment appears to be influenced by genetic factors independent of sex, which may include polygenic as well as major gene effects on obesity.

An adoption study of human obesity

We examined the contributions of genetic factors and the family environment to human fatness in a sample of 540 adult Danish adoptees who were selected from a population of 3580 and divided into four weight classes: thin, median weight, overweight, and obese. There was a strong relation between the weight class of the adoptees and the body-mass index of their biologic parents - for the mothers, P less than 0.0001; for the fathers, P less than 0.02. There was no relation between the weight class of the adoptees and the body-mass index of their adoptive parents. Cumulative distributions of the body-mass index of parents showed similar results; there was a strong relation between the body-mass index of biologic parents and adoptee weight class and no relation between the index of adoptive parents and adoptee weight class. Furthermore, the relation between biologic parents and adoptees was not confined to the obesity weight class, but was present across the whole range of body fatness - from very thin to very fat. We conclude that genetic influences have an important role in determining human fatness in adults, whereas the family environment alone has no apparent effect.

Parent-offspring and sibling body mass index associations during and after sharing of common household environments: the Princeton School District Family Study

Using the Princeton School Family Study cohort, our specific aim was to determine whether, and to what degree, parent-offspring and sibling associations for measures of body habitus outlast the period of shared common household environment in a single well characterized community. Familial associations of measures in body habitus were assessed in two and three generation kindreds, in parents and their pediatric offspring (less than 20-yr-old), parents and their adult offspring (less than or equal to 20-yr-old), and in pediatric and adult siblings. The cohort included 177 randomly recalled probands and 202 probands from a hyperlipidemic recall group (top decile plasma cholesterol and/or triglyceride). In randomly recalled whites, significant associations of body mass indices in parents and pediatric offspring and in pediatric siblings, and the absence of significant correlations in parents and adult offspring and in adult siblings, emphasize the potency of common household environmental effects relative to within-family similarities for shared body habitus. In whites from the hyperlipidemic recall group, only the mother-pediatric and adult offspring correlations for body mass indices were significant. We speculate that mothers and their offspring from kindreds selected by hyperlipidemic probands are more likely than fathers and their offspring to share eating habits and relative ponderosity, with these communal behaviors outlasting the period of common household environment. Alternatively, and speculatively, in the hyperlipidemic recall group, determinants for ponderosity may be shared more by mothers and their offspring than by fathers and their offspring. Particularly in the random recall group, within-family associations of body mass indices primarily reflect shared common household environments, and probably secondarily, the outcome of genes held in common.