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Child’s body mass index and mother’s obesity: the moderating role of physical fitness

European Journal of Pediatrics volume 180, pages 843–850 (2021)Cite this article

Abstract

The aim of this study was to verify the association between children’s body mass index and their mother’s obesity, considering children’s physical fitness as a possible moderator. Cross-sectional study developed with 1842 children and adolescents, aged seven to 17 years, from Santa Cruz do Sul-RS, Brazil. Body weight and height were assessed to determine body mass index. Cardiorespiratory fitness was determined by the 6-min walk/run test and muscular strength through the lower limb strength test. Mother’s perception of obesity was self-assessed. Moderation was tested through a SPSS program extension. Results indicated that higher children’s body mass index (p < 0.001) and lower levels of cardiorespiratory fitness (p = 0.001) and muscular strength (p = 0.035) were associated with mother’s obesity. Likewise, higher body mass index (p < 0.001) and lower cardiorespiratory fitness (p < 0.001) in adolescents were associated with maternal obesity. Moreover, physical fitness moderates the relationship between body mass index and mother’s obesity in children (cardiorespiratory fitness: β = − 0.006; 95% CI = (− 0.010, − 0.001); muscular strength: β = − 8.415; 95% CI = (− 12.526, − 4.304)) and in adolescents (cardiorespiratory fitness: β = − 0.004; 95% CI = (− 0.008, − 0.0008); muscular strength: β − 2.958; 95% CI = (− 5.615, − 0.030)).

Conclusion: increasing physical fitness is an important strategy to protect youths from high body mass index, when their mothers are obese.

What is Known:
• Mother’s obesity is associated with their children’s body mass index.
• Parents’ obesity is associated with their children’s physical fitness
What is New:
• Cardiorespiratory fitness and muscular strength are moderators in the relationship between mother’s obesity and BMI of their children.
• Children and adolescents with high cardiorespiratory fitness and muscular strength levels are protected against elevated body mass index, considering mother’s obesity

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Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Abbreviations

BMI:

Body mass index

CRF:

Cardiorespiratory fitness

LLS:

Lower limb strength

SPSS:

Statistical Package for Social Sciences

UNISC:

University of Santa Cruz do Sul

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Funding

This study received funding from the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel.

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Graduate Program in Health Promotion, University of Santa Cruz do Sul (UNISC), 2293 Independência Av, Santa Cruz do Sul, RS, Brazil

    Caroline Brand, Jane Dagmar Pollo Renner & Cézane Priscila Reuter

  2. School of Physical Education, Physiotherapy and Dance, Graduate Program in Human Movement Sciences, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Felizardo, 750. Neighborhood: Jardim botânico, Porto Alegre, Brazil

    Camila Felin Fochesatto, Arieli Fernandes Dias & Anelise Reis Gaya

  3. Research Center on Physical Activity, Health and Leisure, Federal University of Paraiba, Castelo Branco Street, João Pessoa, 58051-900, Brazil

    Clarice Maria de Lucena Martins

  4. Roya Kelishadi. Child Growth and Development Research Center, Research Institute for Primordial Prevention of Non-Communicable Disease, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan Province, Isfahan, Iran

    Roya Kelishadi

Authors
  1. Caroline Brand
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  2. Camila Felin Fochesatto
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  3. Arieli Fernandes Dias
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  4. Anelise Reis Gaya
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  5. Clarice Maria de Lucena Martins
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  6. Jane Dagmar Pollo Renner
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  7. Cézane Priscila Reuter
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  8. Roya Kelishadi
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Contributions

C.B. have made substantial contributions to the conception, analysis, and interpretation of data and drafted the work; C.F.F. have made substantial contributions to the conception, analysis, and interpretation of data and drafted the work; A.F.D. contributed to the interpretation of data and drafted the work; A.R.G. substantially reviewed the work; C.M.L.M. substantially reviewed the work; J.D.P.R. contributed to the design of the work; C.P.R. contributed to the design of the work and substantially reviewed the work; R.K. substantially reviewed the work. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Caroline Brand.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

This study was approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee of the University of Santa Cruz do Sul (UNISC) under certificate number 1.498.305. Also, was performed in accordance with the ethical standards of the Declaration of Helsinki.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Communicated by Gregorio Paolo Milani

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Brand, C., Fochesatto, C.F., Dias, A.F. et al. Child’s body mass index and mother’s obesity: the moderating role of physical fitness. Eur J Pediatr 180, 843–850 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-020-03810-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-020-03810-5

Keywords

  • Body mass index
  • Mother’s obesity
  • Cardiorespiratory fitness
  • Muscular fitness
  • Children
  • Adolescents