Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The dangerous link between childhood and adulthood predictors of obesity and metabolic syndrome

  • IM - REVIEW
  • Published:
Internal and Emergency Medicine Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The purpose of this review is to evaluate whether some risk factors in childhood work as significant predictors of the development of obesity and the metabolic syndrome in adulthood. These factors include exposures to risk factors in the prenatal period, infancy and early childhood, as well as other socio-demographic variables. We searched articles of interest in PubMed using the following terms: ‘predictors AND obesity OR Metabolic syndrome AND (children OR adolescents) AND (dyslipidemia OR type 2 diabetes OR atherosclerosis OR hypertension OR hypercholesterolemia OR cardiovascular disease)’ AND genetic OR epigenetic. Maternal age, smoking and weight gain during pregnancy, parental body mass index, birth weight, childhood growth patterns (early rapid growth and early adiposity rebound), childhood obesity and the parents’ employment have a role in early life. Furthermore, urbanization, unhealthy diets, increasingly sedentary lifestyles and genetic/epigenetic variants play a role in the persistence of obesity in adulthood. Health promotion programs/agencies should consider these factors as reasonable targets to reduce the risk of adult obesity. Moreover, it should be a clinical priority to correctly identify obese children who are already affected by metabolic comorbidities.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Ogden CL, Yanovski SZ, Carroll MD, Flegal KM (2007) The epidemiology of obesity. Gastroenterology 132:2087–2102

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Obesity. In: World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe, 2015

  3. Ng M, Fleming T, Robinson M, Thomson B, Graetz N, Margono C et al (2014) Global, regional, and national prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adults during 1980–2013: a systematic analysis for the global burden of disease study 2013. Lancet 384:766–781

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Fruhbeck G (2000) Childhood obesity: time for action, not complacency. Definitions are unclear, but effective interventions exist. BMJ 320:328–329

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Baker S, Barlow S, Cochran W, Fuchs G, Klish W, Krebs N et al (2005) Overweight children and adolescents: a clinical report of the North American society for pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr 40:533–543

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Daniels SR, Arnett DK, Eckel RH, Gidding SS, Hayman LL, Kumanyika S et al (2005) Overweight in children and adolescents: pathophysiology, consequences, prevention, and treatment. Circulation 111:1999–2012

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Speiser PW, Rudolf MC, Anhalt H, Camacho-Hubner C, Chiarelli F, Eliakim A et al (2005) Childhood obesity. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 90:1871–1887

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Barlow SE, Expert C (2007) Expert committee recommendations regarding the prevention, assessment, and treatment of child and adolescent overweight and obesity: summary report. Pediatrics 120:S164–S192

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Krebs NF, Himes JH, Jacobson D, Nicklas TA, Guilday P, Styne D (2007) Assessment of child and adolescent overweight and obesity. Pediatrics 120:S193–S228

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Force USPST, Barton M (2010) Screening for obesity in children and adolescents: US preventive services task force recommendation statement. Pediatrics 125:361–367

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Young KL, Demeule M, Stuhlsatz K, Janzen D, Porter RM, Pomettio M et al (2011) Identification and treatment of obesity as a standard of care for all patients in children’s hospitals. Pediatrics 128:S47–S50

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Park MH, Falconer C, Viner RM, Kinra S (2012) The impact of childhood obesity on morbidity and mortality in adulthood: a systematic review. Obes Rev 13:985–1000

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Faienza MF, Acquafredda A, Tesse R, Luce V, Ventura A, Maggialetti N et al (2013) Risk factors for subclinical atherosclerosis in diabetic and obese children. Int J Med Sci 10:338–343

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Nacci C, Leo V, De Benedictis L, Carratu MR, Bartolomeo N, Altomare M et al (2013) Elevated endothelin-1 (ET-1) levels may contribute to hypoadiponectinemia in childhood obesity. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 98:E683–E693

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Portincasa P, Moschetta A, Palasciano G (2006) Cholesterol gallstone disease. Lancet 368:230–239

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Di Ciaula A, Wang DQ, Portincasa P (2012) Gallbladder and gastric motility in obese newborns, pre-adolescents and adults. J Gastroenterol Hepatol 27:1298–1305

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Viner RM, Cole TJ (2005) Adult socioeconomic, educational, social, and psychological outcomes of childhood obesity: a national birth cohort study. BMJ 330:1354

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  18. Chaput JP, Despres JP, Bouchard C, Tremblay A (2012) Longer sleep duration associates with lower adiposity gain in adult short sleepers. Int J Obes 36:752–756

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Zemel MB, Thompson W, Milstead A, Morris K, Campbell P (2004) Calcium and dairy acceleration of weight and fat loss during energy restriction in obese adults. Obes Res 12:582–590

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Chaput JP, Leblanc C, Perusse L, Despres JP, Bouchard C, Tremblay A (2009) Risk factors for adult overweight and obesity in the Quebec family study: have we been barking up the wrong tree? Obesity 17:1964–1970

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Deurenberg P, Weststrate JA, Seidell JC (1991) Body mass index as a measure of body fatness: age- and sex-specific prediction formulas. Br J Nutr 65:105–114

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Freedman DS, Dietz WH, Srinivasan SR, Berenson GS (1999) The relation of overweight to cardiovascular risk factors among children and adolescents: the Bogalusa heart study. Pediatrics 103:1175–1182

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Kuczmarski RJ, Ogden CL, Guo SS, Grummer-Strawn LM, Flegal KM, Mei Z et al (2002) 2000 CDC growth charts for the United States: methods and development. Vital Health Stat 11(246):1–190

    Google Scholar 

  24. Javed A, Jumean M, Murad MH, Okorodudu D, Kumar S, Somers VK et al (2015) Diagnostic performance of body mass index to identify obesity as defined by body adiposity in children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Pediatr Obes 10:234–244

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Cole TJ, Faith MS, Pietrobelli A, Heo M (2005) What is the best measure of adiposity change in growing children: BMI, BMI %, BMI z-score or BMI centile? Eur J Clin Nutr 59:419–425

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Savva SC, Lamnisos D, Kafatos AG (2013) Predicting cardiometabolic risk: waist-to-height ratio or BMI. A meta-analysis. Diabetes Metab Syndr Obes 6:403–419

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  27. Wiklund P, Toss F, Weinehall L, Hallmans G, Franks PW, Nordstrom A et al (2008) Abdominal and gynoid fat mass are associated with cardiovascular risk factors in men and women. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 93:4360–4366

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Sakou II, Psaltopoulou T, Sergentanis TN, Karavanaki K, Karachaliou F, Ntanasis-Stathopoulos I et al (2015) Insulin resistance and cardiometabolic risk factors in obese children and adolescents: a hierarchical approach. J Pediatr Endocrinol Metab 28:589–596

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Anderson SE, Whitaker RC (2009) Prevalence of obesity among US preschool children in different racial and ethnic groups. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 163:344–348

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Shaw NJ, Crabtree NJ, Kibirige MS, Fordham JN (2007) Ethnic and gender differences in body fat in British schoolchildren as measured by DXA. Arch Dis Child 92:872–875

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  31. de Wilde JA, van Dommelen P, Middelkoop BJ, Verkerk PH (2009) Trends in overweight and obesity prevalence in Dutch, Turkish, Moroccan and Surinamese South Asian children in the Netherlands. Arch Dis Child 94:795–800

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Lynch J, Wang XL, Wilcken DE (2002) Body mass index in Australian children: recent changes and relevance of ethnicity. Arch Dis Child 82:16–20

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. van Rossem L, Hafkamp-de Groen E, Jaddoe VWV, Hofman A, Mackenbach JP, Raat H (2014) The role of early life factors in the development of ethnic differences in growth and overweight in preschool children: a prospective birth cohort. BMC Public Health 14:722

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  34. Williams S (2001) Overweight at age 21: the association with body mass index in childhood and adolescence and parents’ body mass index. A cohort study of New Zealanders born in 1972–1973. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 25:158–163

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Gaillard R, Steegers EA, Franco OH, Hofman A, Jaddoe VW (2015) Maternal weight gain in different periods of pregnancy and childhood cardio-metabolic outcomes. The generation R study. Int J Obes 39:677–685

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Depalo R, Garruti G, Totaro I, Panzarino M, Vacca MP, Giorgino F et al (2007) Oocyte morphological abnormalities in overweight women undergoing in vitro fertilization cycles. Gynecol Endocrinol 27:880–884

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Singhal A, Lucas A (2004) Early origins of cardiovascular disease: is there a unifying hypothesis? Lancet 363:1642–1645

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Papadimitriou A (2015) Timing of adiposity rebound and prevalence of obesity. J Pediatr 167:498

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Power C, Manor O, Matthews S (2003) Child to adult socioeconomic conditions and obesity in a national cohort. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 27:1081–1086

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Chandola T, Deary IJ, Blane D, Batty GD (2006) Childhood IQ in relation to obesity and weight gain in adult life: the national child development (1958) study. Int J Obes 30:1422–1432

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  41. Osika W, Montgomery SM, Longitudinal Birth Cohort S (2008) Physical control and coordination in childhood and adult obesity: longitudinal birth cohort study. BMJ 337:a699

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  42. Cheng H, Furnham A (2013) Personality traits, education, physical exercise, and childhood neurological function as independent predictors of adult obesity. PLoS One 8:e79586

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  43. Stoger R (2008) Epigenetics and obesity. Pharmacogenomics 9:1851–1860

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  44. Lodygin D, Tarasov V, Epanchintsev A, Berking C, Knyazeva T, Korner H et al (2008) Inactivation of miR-34a by aberrant CpG methylation in multiple types of cancer. Cell Cycle 7:2591–2600

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Zeisel SH (2009) Epigenetic mechanisms for nutrition determinants of later health outcomes. Am J Clin Nutr 89:1488S–1493S

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  46. Bornhorst C, Wijnhoven TM, Kunesova M, Yngve A, Rito AI, Lissner L et al (2015) WHO European childhood obesity surveillance initiative: associations between sleep duration, screen time and food consumption frequencies. BMC Public Health 15:442

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  47. Ludwig DS, Peterson KE, Gortmaker SL (2001) Relation between consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks and childhood obesity: a prospective, observational analysis. Lancet 357:505–508

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  48. Garipagaoglu M, Sahip Y, Budak N, Akdikmen O, Altan T, Baban M (2008) Food types in the diet and the nutrient intake of obese and non-obese children. J Clin Res Pediatr Endocrinol 1:21–29

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  49. Reilly JJ (2003) Health consequences of obesity. Arch Dis Child 88:748–752

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  50. Juonala M, Magnussen CG, Berenson GS, Venn A, Burns TL, Sabin MA et al (2011) Childhood adiposity, adult adiposity, and cardiovascular risk factors. N Engl J Med 365:1876–1885

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  51. Petkeviciene J, Klumbiene J, Kriaucioniene V, Raskiliene A, Sakyte E, Ceponiene I (2015) Anthropometric measurements in childhood and prediction of cardiovascular risk factors in adulthood: Kaunas cardiovascular risk cohort study. BMC Public Health 15:218

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  52. Reis JP, Allen N, Gibbs BB, Gidding SS, Lee JM, Lewis CE et al (2014) Association of the degree of adiposity and duration of obesity with measures of cardiac structure and function: the CARDIA study. Obesity 22:2434–2440

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  53. Alberti KG, Zimmet P, Shaw J (2006) Metabolic syndrome—a new world-wide definition. A consensus statement from the international diabetes federation. Diabet Med 23:469–480

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  54. Sattar N, Gaw A, Scherbakova O, Ford I, O’Reilly DS, Haffner SM et al (2003) Metabolic syndrome with and without C-reactive protein as a predictor of coronary heart disease and diabetes in the West of Scotland coronary prevention study. Circulation 108:414–419

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  55. Franks PW, Hanson RL, Knowler WC, Sievers ML, Bennett PH, Looker HC (2010) Childhood obesity, other cardiovascular risk factors, and premature death. N Engl J Med 362:485–493

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  56. Magnussen CG, Koskinen J, Chen W, Thomson R, Schmidt MD, Srinivasan SR et al (2010) Pediatric metabolic syndrome predicts adulthood metabolic syndrome, subclinical atherosclerosis, and type 2 diabetes mellitus but is no better than body mass index alone: the Bogalusa heart study and the cardiovascular risk in young Finns study. Circulation 122:1604–1611

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  57. Magnussen CG, Koskinen J, Juonala M, Chen W, Srinivasan SR, Sabin MA et al (2012) A diagnosis of the metabolic syndrome in youth that resolves by adult life is associated with a normalization of high carotid intima-media thickness and type 2 diabetes mellitus risk: the Bogalusa heart and cardiovascular risk in young Finns studies. J Am Coll Cardiol 60:1631–1639

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  58. Morrison JA, Glueck CJ, Woo JG, Wang P (2012) Risk factors for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes retained from childhood to adulthood predict adult outcomes: the Princeton LRC follow-up study. Int J Pediatr Endocrinol 2012:6

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  59. Urbina EM, Khoury PR, McCoy CE, Dolan LM, Daniels SR, Kimball TR (2013) Triglyceride to HDL-C ratio and increased arterial stiffness in children, adolescents, and young adults. Pediatrics 131:e1082–e1090

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  60. Reinehr T, Wunsch R, Putter C, Scherag A (2013) Relationship between carotid intima-media thickness and metabolic syndrome in adolescents. J Pediatr 163:327–332

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  61. Morandi A, Maffeis C (2014) Predictors of metabolic risk in childhood obesity. Horm Res Paediatr 82:3–11

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section of Pediatrics, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Human Oncology, University of Bari “A. Moro”, Bari, Italy

    Maria Felicia Faienza

  2. Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, 63104, USA

    David Q. H. Wang

  3. Metabolic Research Laboratory, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain

    Gema Frühbeck

  4. Department of Endocrinology and Nutrition, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain

    Gema Frühbeck

  5. CIBER Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029, Madrid, Spain

    Gema Frühbeck

  6. Obesity and Adipobiology Group, Instituto de Investigación Sanitario de Navarra (IdiSNA), Pamplona, Spain

    Gema Frühbeck

  7. Section of Endocrinology, Andrology and Metabolic Diseases, Department of Emergency and Organ Transplants, University of Bari Medical School, Bari, Italy

    Gabriella Garruti

  8. Department of Biomedical Sciences and Human Oncology, Clinica Medica “A. Murri”, University of Bari “A. Moro”, Bari, Italy

    Piero Portincasa

Authors
  1. Maria Felicia Faienza
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. David Q. H. Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Gema Frühbeck
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Gabriella Garruti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Piero Portincasa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maria Felicia Faienza.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Statement of human and animal rights

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

Informed consent

Not required.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Faienza, M.F., Wang, D.Q.H., Frühbeck, G. et al. The dangerous link between childhood and adulthood predictors of obesity and metabolic syndrome. Intern Emerg Med 11, 175–182 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11739-015-1382-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11739-015-1382-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation