Relationship between parental overweight and obesity and childhood metabolic syndrome in their offspring: result from a cross-sectional analysis of parent–offspring trios in China

OBJECTIVE: Metabolic syndrome (MS) and its components are observed to emerge in childhood and may continue into adulthood. The study aimed to investigate the association between parental overweight and risk of childhood MS and its components in their offspring. METHODS: Data were obtained from a cross-sectional survey conducted in Chinese children and adolescents; a total of 11 784 children aged 7–18 years were included in this study; child outcomes were obtained from objective measurements and parental data were obtained from questionnaires; MS was defined according to the modified criteria of Adult Treatment Panel Ⅲ; correlation between parental overweight and offspring MS was assessed via multivariate logistic regression models adjusted for potential covariates. RESULTS: 3476 (29.5%) children were found to have overweight fathers, 1041 (8.8%) had overweight mothers and 852 (7.2%) had both overweight parents. The prevalence of MS was 7.1% in total, 8.2% in boys and 5.9% in girls; children with overweight parents had a higher prevalence of MS and its components (except for elevated glucose) compared with children with normal-weight parents. Children with overweight fathers, mothers and both parents had 2.17 times (95% CI: 1.65–2.85), 2.89 times (95% CI: 2.03–4.11) and 2.81 times (95% CI: 1.91–4.15) higher risk of MS, respectively. Children with overweight mothers were likely to have a higher risk of MS compared with children with overweight fathers. Parental overweight was positively correlated with higher risk of MS, abdominal obesity and low HDL-C both in boys and girls. CONCLUSION: Parental overweight was strongly associated with increased risk of MS in their offspring, the risk was highest in children with both parents to be overweight. Maternal overweight seems to have a stronger correlation with offspring MS than paternal overweight. Parental overweight is one of the factors for identifying metabolic dysfunction risk in their offspring and other factors need to be considered as well.