Maternal Influences Have Persistent Impact on Offspring Obesity

THURSDAY, April 3, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Maternal influences have a persistent effect on offspring obesity through age 42 years, according to a study published online March 26 in PLOS ONE.

Glenna Nightingale, Ph.D., from the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom, and colleagues quantified the impact of sociodemographic and early-life course predictors of having overweight or obesity at age 16 years, having overweight/obesity/severe obesity at 42 years, and the incidence of a status of overweight/obesity/severe obesity between 16 and 42 years of age. Data were obtained from participants and their mothers from the 1958 National Child Development Survey. Logistic regression models were used to assess the risk factors for obesity.

The researchers found that across the three models, maternal obesity had a strong influence on offspring obesity/severe obesity, with odds ratios of 4.328, 2.901, and 3.293 for the models relating to age 16 years, age range 16 to 42 years, and age 42 years, respectively. Maternal smoking had a significant effect on all three outcomes, with odds ratios of 1.6 to 1.8 for 10+ cigarettes per day versus nonsmokers. Females had increased odds of overweight/obesity at age 16 years (odds ratio, 1.96), but had no significant effect for obesity between 16 and 42 years.

“Maternal influences such as body mass index are important predictors of obesity across four decades of offspring”s lives,” the authors write. “Our study also documents persistent sociodemographic influences on obesity over the life course.”

Abstract/Full Text