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Influence of early-life and parental factors on childhood overweight and obesity

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Abstract

Purpose

We recently reported that a high BMI and high waist circumference prevalence is present in Sicilian children and that the male gender is associated with a significant risk of obesity. Early-life and parent-related risk factors were investigated 1521 Sicilian children (752 females and 769 males, aged 9.0–14.0 years) to identify biological and environmental factors that can contribute to obesity onset.

Methods

Anthropometric measurements of children, their urban vs rural area provenience, birth weight and neonatal feeding were collected. In addition, the BMI and educational level of their parents and the perception of their child weight status were investigated.

Results

In the study cohort, the prevalence of overweight and obesity was 27.2 and 14.1 %, respectively, significantly (p < 0.05) higher in males than in females. Breastfeeding emerged as a protective factor (OR 0.64; p < 0.0005), while risk factors for developing childhood obesity were a birth weight ≥4.0 kg (OR 1.83; p < 0.05), an overweight or obese mother (OR 2.33; p < 0.0001) or father (OR 1.68; p < 0.0001) and a mother with a low/medium education level (OR 1.72; p < 0.005).

Conclusion

Understanding risk factors for pediatric obesity is a prerequisite to identify children at highly risk of being obese and to predispose early intervention strategies.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the schoolchildren, their parents, teachers and the local school authorities for the collaboration to this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Endocrinology Unit, Garibaldi-Nesima Hospital, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, Via Palermo 636, 95122, Catania, Italy

    C. Parrino, F. Vinciguerra, N. La Spina, L. Romeo, A. Tumminia, R. Baratta, S. Squatrito, R. Vigneri & L. Frittitta

  2. “S. Signorelli” Diabetes and Obesity Center, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, Catania, Italy

    R. Baratta & L. Frittitta

  3. Institute of Biostructures and Bioimages, National Research Council, CNR, Catania, Italy

    R. Vigneri

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  1. C. Parrino
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  2. F. Vinciguerra
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  3. N. La Spina
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  4. L. Romeo
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Correspondence to L. Frittitta.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

The Institutional Board of the school approved the study, and informed written consent was obtained from parents for children examination and anonymous recording of their data.

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Parrino, C., Vinciguerra, F., La Spina, N. et al. Influence of early-life and parental factors on childhood overweight and obesity. J Endocrinol Invest 39, 1315–1321 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40618-016-0501-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40618-016-0501-1

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