Parental body mass index and blood pressure are associated with higher body mass index and blood pressure in their adult offspring: a cross‐sectional study in a resource‐limited setting in northern Peru

Abstract

ObjectivesHigh body mass index (BMI) and blood pressure (BP) are major contributors to the high burden of non‐communicable diseases in adulthood. Individual high‐risk and population approaches for prevention require newer strategies to target these risk factors and focusing on the family to introduce prevention initiatives appears as a promising scenario. Characterisation of the relationship between BMI and BP among the adult members of a given family merits evaluation. We conducted a secondary analysis of an implementation study in Tumbes, Peru, benefiting from data derived from families with at least one adult offspring.MethodsThe exposures of interest were the BMI, systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) of the mother and father. The outcomes were the BMI, SBP and DBP of the offspring. Mixed‐effects linear regression models were conducted.ResultsThe mean age of the offspring, mothers and fathers was 29 (SD: 9.5), 54 (SD: 11.8) and 59 (SD: 11.6) years, respectively. Father's BMI was associated with a quarter‐point increase in offspring BMI, regardless of the sex of the offspring. Mother's BMI had a similar effect on the BMI of her sons, but had no significant effect on her daughters’. Mother's SBP was associated with almost one‐tenth of mmHg increase in the SBP of the adult offspring. There was no evidence of an association for DBP.ConclusionsIn families with adult members, the higher the parents’ BMI and SBP, the higher their adult offspring's levels will be.

Body mass index in parents and their adult offspring: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…The majority of studies found positive associations between parents and their adult offspring BMI, while four studies reported null associations 26,37,41,53 . Several studies investigated sex‐specific associations and compared the same‐sex (mother–daughter, or father–son) or cross‐sex (mother–son, father–daughter) relationships within the same population 18,24,25,54,57 . Conclusions regarding the findings for these sex‐specific results varied between the studies.…”

Body mass index in parents and their adult offspring: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…The majority of studies found positive associations between parents and their adult offspring BMI, while four studies reported null associations 25,34,38,46 . Several studies investigated sex-specific associations and compared the same-sex (mother-daughter, or father-son) or cross-sex (mother-son, father-daughter) relationships within the same population 18,23,24,47,48 . Conclusions regarding the findings for these sex-specific results varied between the studies.…”

Avances en la investigación de enfermedades crónicas no transmisibles en el Perú

“…La prevención es esencial para evitar la aparición e instalación de estas enfermedades, así como para su control y tratamiento una vez que se hayan instalado. Esta prevención debe darse a nivel individual, familiar, del entorno cercano, y de la sociedad (17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25) , incluyendo intervenciones "fuera" del sector salud (26,27) . Por eso, la investigación multidisciplinaria es importante para caracterizar los determinantes de las ENT, conocer la situación local y aportar información de calidad para implementar políticas públicas efectivas, lo cual es una recomendación de la Organización Mundial de la Salud para lograr el control de la ENT (28) .…”