Testing the fetal overnutrition hypothesis; the relationship of maternal and paternal adiposity to adiposity, insulin resistance and cardiovascular risk factors in Indian children.
OBJECTIVE
We aimed to test the fetal overnutrition hypothesis by comparing the associations of maternal and paternal adiposity (sum of skinfolds) with adiposity and cardiovascular risk factors in children.


METHODS
Children from a prospective birth cohort had anthropometry, fat percentage (bio-impedance), plasma glucose, insulin and lipid concentrations and blood pressure measured at 9.5 years of age. Detailed anthropometric measurements were recorded for mothers (at 3±2 weeks’ gestation) and fathers (5 years following the index pregnancy).


METHODS
Holdsworth Memorial Hospital, Mysore, India.


METHODS
Children (n 504), born to mothers with normal glucose tolerance during pregnancy.


RESULTS
Twenty-eight per cent of mothers and 38% of fathers were overweight/ obese (BMI≥25.0 kg/m²), but only 4% of the children were overweight/obese (WHO age- and sex-specific BMI≥18.2 kg/m²). The children’s adiposity (BMI, sum of skinfolds, fat percentage and waist circumference), fasting insulin concentration and insulin resistance increased with increasing maternal and paternal sum of skinfolds adjusted for the child’s sex, age and socio-economic status. Maternal and paternal effects were similar. The associations with fasting insulin and insulin resistance were attenuated after adjusting for the child’s current adiposity.


CONCLUSIONS
In this population, both maternal and paternal adiposity equally predict adiposity and insulin resistance in the children. This suggests that shared family environment and lifestyle, or genetic/epigenetic factors, influence child adiposity. Our findings do not support the hypothesis that there is an intrauterine overnutrition effect of maternal adiposity in non-diabetic pregnancies, although we cannot rule out such an effect in cases of extreme maternal obesity, which is rare in our population.
Epidemiology Research Unit, Holdsworth Memorial Hospital, PO Box 38, Mandi Mohalla, Mysore 570021, Karnataka, India. veenasr@gmail.com
Sargoor R
SR
Veena
Ghattu V
GV
Krishnaveni
Samuel C
SC
Karat
Clive
C
Osmond
Caroline H D
CH
Fall
D000273:Adipose Tissue; D050154:Adiposity; D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D002648:Child; D005220:Fathers; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology; D010290:Parents; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D039401:Prenatal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D012307:Risk Factors; D012885:Skinfold Thickness; D055105:Waist Circumference; D055815:Young Adult
D007328:Insulin