Associations between parental adherence to healthy lifestyles and risk of obesity in offspring: a prospective cohort study in China

Abstract

Background: Maternal adherence to a healthy lifestyle has been associated with a lower risk of obesity in offspring. However, little is known about the potential effect of an overall healthy parental lifestyle on the development of obesity in children. We aimed to investigate the prospective association of parental adherence to a combination of healthy lifestyle factors with the risk of obesity in offspring.

Methods: Participants in the China Family Panel Studies, without obesity at baseline, were enrolled between April and September, 2010; between July, 2012, and March, 2013; and between July, 2014, and June, 2015; and followed up until the end of 2020. Parental healthy lifestyle score (ranged 0-5) was characterised by five modifiable lifestyle factors: smoking, alcohol consumption, exercise, diet, and BMI. The first occurrence of offspring obesity during the study follow-up period was defined by age-specific and sex-specific cutoff values of BMI. We used multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazard models to examine the associations between parental healthy lifestyle scores and risk of obesity in children.

Findings: We included 5881 participants aged 6-15 years; median follow-up was 6 years (IQR 4-8). A total of 597 (10·2%) participants developed obesity during follow-up. Compared with those in the lowest tertile of parental healthy lifestyle scores, participants in the top tertile had a 42% lower risk of obesity (multivariable-adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 0·58 [95% CI 0·45-0·74]). The association persisted in sensitivity analyses and was similar across major subgroups. Both maternal (HR 0·75 [95% CI 0·61-0·92]) and paternal (0·73 [0·60-0·89]) healthy lifestyle scores were independently associated with lower risks of obesity in offspring, with significant contributions observed for paternal diverse diet and healthy BMI.

Interpretation: Adherence to an overall parental healthier lifestyle was associated with a substantially lower risk of obesity in childhood and adolescence. This finding highlights the potential benefits of promoting a healthy lifestyle among parents for the primary prevention of obesity in offspring.

Funding: Special Foundation for National Science and Technology Basic Research Program of China (grant reference 2019FY101002) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant reference 42271433).