Association of reduction in parental overweight with reduction in children's overweight with a 3-year follow-up.

Abstract

Parental overweight has been reported to be a risk factor predicting obesity of their children. However, the effect of changes in parental overweight on the changes in children's overweight is not yet characterized. Six hundred five children of 9-10 years underwent physical examinations and a survey concerning parents' body mass index (BMI) with a 3-year follow-up. In families where both parents' BMI was above 25 at baseline, when either parents' BMI decreased to less than 25 kg/m(2), children improved their adiposity, atherosclerosis index (AI), and systolic blood pressure (SBP). No such improvement was observed in children both of whose parents maintained BMI > or =25 kg/m(2). Improving parental overweight possibly reduced the risk of overweight in their children. Changes in parental overweight status were associated with changes in overweight status of their children.