Parental insulin resistance is associated with unhealthy lifestyle behaviours independently of body mass index in children: The Feel4Diabetes study

Parental health is associated with children’s health and lifestyles. Thus, the aim of the present study was to assess lifestyle behaviours of children of parents with insulin resistance (IR) and at risk of type 2 diabetes. 2117 European families from the Feel4Diabetes-study were identified as being at risk for diabetes with the FINDRISC questionnaire and included in the present study. One parent and one child per family were included. Parental IR was considered when homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) was equal or higher than 2.5. Children’s screen-time, physical activity and diet were assessed and clustered by K-means. Weight and height were measured and children’s body mass index (BMI) was calculated. For children, a Healthy Diet Score (HDS) was calculated. Linear regression and multilevel logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the associations between parental IR and children’s lifestyle behaviours in 2021. Children of parents with IR had higher BMI (p < 0.001) and spent more screen time (p = 0.014) than those of non-IR parents. Children of parents with IR had a lower value in the breakfast and vegetable components of the HDS (p = 0.008 and p = 0.05). Four lifestyle clusters were found. Children of IR parents had higher odds of being in a non-healthy cluster (OR: 1.19; 95%CI: 1.001–1.437). Conclusion: Having an IR parent was associated with a high screen time and an increased probability of having an unhealthy lifestyle pattern in children. These data point out that children’s lifestyles should be assessed in families with IR parents to provide tailored interventions. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00431-022-04449-0.