Parental BMI and country classification by Gross National Income are stronger determinants of prospective BMI deterioration compared to perinatal risk factors at pre-adolescence: Feel4Diabetes Study

Yannis Manios; Maria Michelle Papamichael; Niki Mourouti; Matzourana Argyropoulou; Violeta Iotova; Natalya Usheva; Roumyana Dimova; Greet Cardon; Päivi Valve; Imre Rurik; Emese Antal; Stavros Liatis; Konstantinos Makrilakis; Luis Moreno; George Moschonis; Feel4Diabetes-Study Group

doi:10.1016/j.nut.2023.112128

Parental BMI and country classification by Gross National Income are stronger determinants of prospective BMI deterioration compared to perinatal risk factors at pre-adolescence: Feel4Diabetes Study

Nutrition. 2023 Oct:114:112128. doi: 10.1016/j.nut.2023.112128. Epub 2023 Jun 8.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Science and Education, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece; Institute of Agri-food and Life Sciences, Hellenic Mediterranean University Research Centre, Heraklion, Greece. Electronic address: manios@hua.gr.
² Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Science and Education, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece; Department of Dietetics, Nutrition and Sport, School of Allied Health, Human Services and Sport, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
³ Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Science and Education, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece; Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Hellenic Mediterranean University, Sitia, Greece.
⁴ Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Science and Education, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece.
⁵ Department of Paediatrics, Medical University of Varna, Bulgaria.
⁶ Department of Social Medicine and Health Care Organization, Medical University of Varna, Varna, Bulgaria.
⁷ Department of Endocrinology, Medical University of Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria.
⁸ Department of Movement and Sports Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
⁹ Department of Public Health and Welfare, Finnish Institute of Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland.
¹⁰ Semmelweis University, Department of Family Medicine, Budapest, Hungary; Hungarian Society of Nutrition, Budapest, Hungary.
¹¹ Hungarian Society of Nutrition, Budapest, Hungary.
¹² National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Medical School, First Department of Propaedeutic Medicine, Laiko General Hospital, Athens, Greece.
¹³ Growth, Exercise, Nutrition and Development (GENUD) Research Group, University of Zaragoza, Spain.
¹⁴ Department of Dietetics, Nutrition and Sport, School of Allied Health, Human Services and Sport, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

PMID: 37481919
DOI: 10.1016/j.nut.2023.112128

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate all known risk factors, from perinatal to adolescence and identify those predominantly related with prospective BMI deterioration.

Methods: Prospective data analysis from the European Feel4Diabetes-study involving 12,211 children from six countries. Details on perinatal and sociodemographic characteristics were collected by parental self-reported questionnaires. Children's anthropometric data were measured by research personnel. Associations between risk factors and children's BMI deterioration (i.e increase) from baseline (mean age 8.2 ± 0.98 years) to the 2-year follow-up (10.3 ± 1.0 years) were explored by applying logistic regression analyses.

Results: Univariate analysis revealed that all known risk factors for early overweight/obesity development, remained dominant in prospective BMI deterioration. When multivariate analysis was applied including additional variables such as parents' current BMI status, family socio-demographic characteristics and country economic classification based on Gross National Income, most perinatal risk factors were no longer significant. Multivariate analysis revealed that pre-pregnancy maternal overweight/obesity (OR, 95%CI: 2.71, 1.67-4.38), early introduction of solid foods (2.54, 1.21-5.31), parental current BMI status (3.53, 2.17-5.72) and country economic classification (low income: 4.67, 2.20-9.93; under austerity measures: 6.78, 3.18-14.48) were the only parameters associated with higher odds for children's BMI deterioration from the study baseline to 2-year follow-up after adjusting for children's gender.

Conclusions: The most predominant risk factors influencing children's prospective BMI deterioration were parental BMI and country economic classification as compared to perinatal. These findings should guide public health initiatives aiming to tackle the childhood obesity epidemic and social inequalities on a European level.

Keywords: Gross National Income; Perinatal; children; classification; country economic; obesity; overweight; socio-demographics.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Body Mass Index
Child
Female
Humans
Overweight* / complications
Overweight* / epidemiology
Parents
Pediatric Obesity* / epidemiology
Pediatric Obesity* / etiology
Pregnancy
Prospective Studies
Risk Factors