The association between parental BMI and offspring adiposity: A genetically informed analysis of trios.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Children with obesity are more likely to have parents with obesity than those without. Several environmental explanations have been proposed for this correlation, including foetal programming and parenting practices. However, body mass index (BMI) is a heritable trait; child-parent correlations may reflect direct inheritance of adiposity-related genes. There is some evidence that mothers' BMI associates with offspring BMI net of direct genetic inheritance, consistent with both intrauterine and parenting effects, but this requires replication. Here, we also investigate the role of fathers' BMI as well as offsprings' diet as a mediating factor.

Methods

We used Mendelian Randomization (MR) with genetic trio (mother-father-offspring) data from 2,630 families in the Mi

SUBMITTER: Wright L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12324121 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature