title: Disentangling the associations between parental BMI and offspring body composition using the four-component model.
abstract: This study sets out to investigate the intergenerational associations between the body mass index (BMI) of parents and the body composition of their offspring.
  
  
  
  The cross-sectional data were analyzed for 511 parent-offspring trios from London and south-east England. The offspring were aged 5-21 years. Parental BMI was obtained by recall and offspring fat mass and lean mass were obtained using the four-component model. Multivariable regression analysis, with multiple imputation for missing paternal values was used. Sensitivity analyses for levels of non-paternity were conducted.
  
  
  
  A positive association was seen between parental BMI and offspring BMI, fat mass index (FMI), and lean mass index (LMI). The mother's BMI was positively associated with the BMI, FMI, and LMI z-scores of both daughters and sons and of a similar magnitude for both sexes. The father's BMI showed similar associations to the mother's BMI, with his son's BMI, FMI, and LMI z-scores, but no association with his daughter. Sensitivity tests for non-paternity showed that maternal coefficients remained greater than paternal coefficients throughout but there was no statistical difference at greater levels of non-paternity.
  
  
  
  We found variable associations between parental BMI and offspring body composition. Associations were generally stronger for maternal than paternal BMI, and paternal associations appeared to differ between sons and daughters. In this cohort, the mother's BMI was statistically significantly associated with her child's body composition but the father's BMI was only associated with the body composition of his sons. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 28:524-533, 2016. © 2016 The Authors American Journal of Human Biology Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
authors: UCL Institute for Global Health, London, WC1N 1EH, United Kingdom.
authors: Delan
authors: D
authors: Devakumar
authors: UCL Institute for Global Health, London, WC1N 1EH, United Kingdom.
authors: Carlos
authors: C
authors: Grijalva-Eternod
authors: Clinical Epidemiology, Nutrition and Biostatistics Section, UCL Institute of Child Health, London, WC1N 1EH, United Kingdom.
authors: Mario
authors: M
authors: Cortina-Borja
authors: Childhood Nutrition Research Centre, UCL Institute of Child Health, London, WC1N 1EH, United Kingdom.
authors: Jane
authors: J
authors: Williams
authors: Childhood Nutrition Research Centre, UCL Institute of Child Health, London, WC1N 1EH, United Kingdom.
authors: Mary
authors: M
authors: Fewtrell
authors: Childhood Nutrition Research Centre, UCL Institute of Child Health, London, WC1N 1EH, United Kingdom.
authors: Jonathan
authors: J
authors: Wells
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001823:Body Composition; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004739:England; D006801:Humans; D008131:London; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010290:Parents; D055815:Young Adult