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Prenatal compared with parental origins of adolescent fatness^1,2

¹ From the Center for Human Growth and Development and the Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Background: Differences in prenatal growth influence postnatal body fat.

Objective: The objective was to investigate the role of parental body composition on the "tracking" of adolescent fatness.

Design: The study population consisted of 1993 white subjects and their parents. Measurements were taken at birth and again at the age of either 15, 16, or 17 y. The newborns were classified in 3 groups: small for gestational age, appropriate for gestational age, and large for gestational age. The mothers and fathers of the adolescents were classified into low and high subgroups on the basis of measurements of body mass index (BMI). Similarly, the mothers of the adolescents were classified into lean and fat subgroups on the basis of measurements of triceps skinfold thickness.

Results: Heavy newborns became heavier or fatter adolescents only when the mother or father was also fat and, among heavy newborns, the risk of becoming fat adolescents was 5.7 times higher when the mother was fat rather than lean.

Conclusions: Large newborns become fat adolescents only when the mother or father is also overweight or fat (ie, has either a high BMI or large skinfold thickness). These findings suggest that fatness during adolescence is related to parental fatness but not to prenatal fatness. Therefore, preventing higher levels of adiposity among newborns is unlikely to reduce overall adiposity in adolescence.

Key Words: Obesity • overweight • newborns • adolescents • body composition • triceps skinfold thickness • gestational age • body mass index

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