title: Differential impact of maternal and paternal ethnicity on the pattern of fat distribution in infants at age 3 months.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  As ethnicity is typically recorded as a single demographic variable in clinical studies, little is known about the relative impact of maternal vs. paternal ethnicity on fat distribution.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to determine whether there is a differential impact of maternal and paternal ethnicity on infant adiposity.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three hundred fifty-five infants underwent anthropometric assessment at age 3 months, including skin-fold thickness (SFT) measurement at subscapular, suprailiac and triceps. Maternal (M) and paternal (P) ethnicity were classified as white (M = 241, P = 252), Asian (M = 50, P = 42) or other (M = 64, P = 61).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Infants with either Asian mother (compared with white) or Asian father (compared with white) had increased subscapular, suprailiac and triceps SFT (all P < 0.05). On logistic regression analysis, however, only maternal Asian ethnicity (compared with white) independently predicted the likelihood of an infant being in the highest tertile for SFT at subscapular (odds ratio [OR] = 2.72, 95% confidence interval 1.17-6.34, P = 0.02), suprailiac (OR = 3.56, 1.51-8.42, P = 0.004) and triceps (OR = 3.26, 1.40-7.55, P = 0.005). In contrast, paternal Asian ethnicity was independently associated with sum of SFT only (OR = 2.46, 1.02-5.97, P = 0.04).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Maternal and paternal Asian ethnicity have differential effects on infant fat distribution. Future clinical studies on obesity and fat composition should consider the distinct contributions of both parents to the ethnic classification of participants.
authors: Leadership Sinai Centre for Diabetes, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada.|Division of Endocrinology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
authors: C K
authors: CK
authors: Kramer
authors: Hospital for Sick Children, Department of Pediatrics, Toronto, Canada.
authors: J K
authors: JK
authors: Hamilton
authors: Leadership Sinai Centre for Diabetes, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada.
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Ye
authors: Leadership Sinai Centre for Diabetes, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada.|Division of Endocrinology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.|Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
authors: A J
authors: AJ
authors: Hanley
authors: Division of Endocrinology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.|Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science of St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Canada.
authors: P W
authors: PW
authors: Connelly
authors: Division of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Sermer
authors: Leadership Sinai Centre for Diabetes, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada.|Division of Endocrinology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.|Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada.
authors: B
authors: B
authors: Zinman
authors: Leadership Sinai Centre for Diabetes, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada.|Division of Endocrinology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.|Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada.
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Retnakaran
mesh_terms: D050154:Adiposity / Q000208:ethnology*; D044466:Asian People; D050218:Body Fat Distribution; D005006:Ethnicity; D005220:Fathers; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers; D009765:Obesity / Q000208:ethnology*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012885:Skinfold Thickness; D044465:White People
keywords: Developmental origins; infant adiposity; parental ethnicity