Having siblings promotes a more healthy weight status—Whereas only children are at greater risk for higher BMI in later childhood

Abstract

Background Birth order and having at least one sibling are known to be associated with an increased risk for development of overweight. However, there are no studies assessing pre- and postnatal factors for developing overweight within families. Therefore, the present study aimed to analyse the association of the mother’s weight gain during pregnancy, prepregnancy BMI, mother’s age at birth, breastfeeding, age gap between siblings, and physical activity together with sibling-related characteristics on the development of overweight in children and adolescents. Methods Data were obtained from the longitudinal LIFE Child cohort. The study sample included n = 1932 children, stratified into first-born (n = 578), second-born (n = 608), third-or-later-born single-born siblings (n = 162), only children (n = 526), and twin children (n = 58). Children with chronic or syndromic diseases, born prematurely or from mothers with gestational diabetes were excluded. Data were adjusted for multiple children per family using mixed models. Pregnancy weight gain, prepregnancy BMI and mother’s age were considered prenatal co-variates. Postnatal factors included the duration of breastfeeding and the children’s physical activity level. Results Particularly until the onset of puberty, the BMI-SDS differed between single-born siblings, only children and twins, and increased with birth order. Compared to children with siblings, only children exhibited a strong increase in BMI-SDS starting at age nine. A higher age gap between siblings was associated with a higher BMI-SDS in second- and third-or-later-born children. Single-born siblings had the highest rate and duration of breastfeeding. Physical activity was highest in twins and third-or-later-born children and lowest in only children. In a multivariate model, being an only child showed a highly significant association with BMI-SDS. Conclusion The present study demonstrated that siblings had a lower BMI-SDS than only children did. For single-born siblings, the association between birth order and increased BMI-SDS seemed to persist only up to 11 years of age.

Early life socioeconomic position contributes to adult obesity independent of adult socioeconomic factors: Findings from The Sister Study cohort

“…The prevalence of obesity among Sister Study participants is slightly lower than that of US women between 2003 and 2009 as estimated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (30% vs. 31–35%) ( Flegal et al, 2012 ). Previous studies have reported lower risk of childhood obesity, a risk factor for adult obesity, among children with siblings compared to those without siblings ( Bohn et al, 2022 ; Mosli et al, 2016 ). Furthermore, while overweight tends to run in families, the relationship between obesity and breast cancer is complex.…”

Dietary habits, physical activity and nutritional status in children with Down’s syndrome

“…Other authors have also observed an effect of the number of children in a family on the prevalence of obesity, where obesity was demonstrated to be diagnosed more frequently in children with no siblings than in children who have siblings [44,45]. In some studies, it was found that children with no siblings showed a much lower level of physical activity compared to those who had siblings, which led to an increased risk of obesity [46,47], because having siblings created more opportunities for active play and sport. It can also be suggested that the families with more underage members paid more attention to healthy eating and developing correct dietary habits than the families with fewer underage members.…”