Relation of adiposity, television and screen time in offspring to their parents

Background: Few studies have examined the relations of adiposity and lifestyle factors in young offspring with their parents as children (parents_child) or at their current age (parents_adult). Therefore, we compared measures of adiposity and lifestyle in parents_child and parents_adult with their offspring.Methods: Two generations (one parent and his/her offspring) participated in this study: 234 parents from a previously established cohort and 382 offspring. Parents_adult and offspring underwent measurements for height, weight, waist circumference, % body fat, visceral fat, and lifestyle habits. Participants were classified as normal weight, overweight, obese based on age-specific BMI criteria. Mixed model linear regression analysis evaluated the associations of adiposity and lifestyle factors of parents_child and parents_adult with that of their offspring, adjusting for age, sex, race, and family membership.Results: The prevalence of obesity was greater among offspring mean age 12.3 years compared to their parents_child mean age 12.6 years (18.4% vs 10.1%, p<0.001) even though hours of television (TV) watching were similar between the two generations as children (p=0.80). Sixty percent of parents (as children and adults) and offspring reported more than 2 hours of TV/day. Offspring of parents who were overweight and obese as children had greater BMI (all p<0.001) than offspring of parents who were normal weight as children. For both parent_adult and offspring, adiposity was greater with greater total screen time.Conclusions: Identifying high-risk families is important for early intervention of overweight, especially in children.