title: Association between child and adolescent obesity and parental weight status: a cross-sectional study from rural North China.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the relationship between child and adolescent obesity, and parental weight status.
  
  
  METHODS
  Height and weight were measured in Chinese children and adolescents aged 6-17 years old. Information was collected concerning parental weight and height, and possible covariates, using a questionnaire. The body mass index (BMI) of each study participant and their parents was calculated. On the basis of the BMI, parents were categorized as normal, overweight or obese, and children and adolescents were categorized as normal or obese.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 5,041 participants included in the study, 6.82% were obese. Child or adolescent obesity was significantly associated with parental obesity. When both parents were obese, there was a 3.62-fold increased risk of obesity compared with those whose parents were of normal weight. Obesity in fathers was associated with a heightened risk of obesity in female children, whereas obesity in mothers was associated with a heightened risk of obesity in male children.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Parental obesity was a predictor of obesity in children and adolescents. It is therefore of key importance to prevent obesity in children who have one or more obese parents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, First Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, China.
authors.forename: Mo-Han
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Xiao-Fan
authors.initials: XF
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Ying-Xian
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005220:Fathers; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D040582:Inheritance Patterns; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology*; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Obesity; adolescents; children; parental obesity