title: Preventing and treating childhood obesity: time to target fathers.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the long-term effects of having one overweight or obese parent on child weight status and determine whether these effects vary according to parent sex.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective study: Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC).
  
  
  METHODS
  Two-parent families (N=3285) from the LSAC were included if height and weight data were available for both parents and their child at the 2004 and 2008 time points.
  
  
  METHODS
  Child weight status category (healthy, overweight, obese) in 2008 when the child was aged 8-9 years. Regression modelling was used to investigate how self-reported parent weight status in 2004 influenced measured child weight status 4 years later.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Parent body mass index (BMI) was significantly correlated with child BMI, but there was no evidence of sex-specific associations between parent and child BMI correlations. The results from the regression analysis showed that having an overweight or obese father, but a healthy weight mother, significantly increased the odds of child obesity (odds ratio: 4.18, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.01-17.33 and odds ratio: 14.88, 95% CI: 2.61-84.77, respectively), but the reverse scenario (overweight or obese mother with a healthy weight father) was not a significant predictor of child overweight or obesity (odds ratio: 2.52, 95% CI: 0.38-16.71 and odds ratio: 2.56, 95% CI: 0.31-21.26, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Children with overweight or obese fathers are at a higher risk of becoming obese. This suggests that interventions are urgently required to test the efficacy of treating overweight fathers as a key strategy for childhood obesity prevention and/or treatment.
authors: Family Action Centre, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia. emily.e.freeman@gmail.com
authors: E
authors: E
authors: Freeman
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Fletcher
authors: C E
authors: CE
authors: Collins
authors: P J
authors: PJ
authors: Morgan
authors: T
authors: T
authors: Burrows
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Callister
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005220:Fathers; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors