School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Hubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
BMC Public Health. 2024 Aug 19;24(1):2244. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-19598-0.
Familial concordance of weight status is an emerging field of study that may guide the development of interventions that operate beyond the individual and within the family context. There is a dearth of published data for concordance of weight status within Pakistani households.
We assessed the associations between weight status of mothers and their children in a nationally representative sample of households in Pakistan using Demographic and Health Survey data from 2017-18. Our analysis included 3465 mother-child dyads, restricting to children under-five years of age with body mass index (BMI) information on their mothers. We used linear regression models to assess the associations between maternal BMI category (underweight, normal weight, overweight, obese) and child's weight-for-height z-score (WHZ), accounting for socio-demographic characteristics of mothers and children. We assessed these relationships in all children under-five and also stratified by age of children (younger than 2 years and 2 to 5 years).
In all children under-five and in children 2 to 5 years, maternal BMI was positively associated with child's WHZ. For all children under-five, children of normal weight, overweight, and obese women had WHZ scores that were 0.21 [95% CI (confidence interval): 0.04, 0.37], 0.43 [95% CI: 0.25, 0.62], and 0.51 [95% CI: 0.30, 0.71] units higher than children of underweight women, respectively. For children ages 2 to 5, children of normal weight, overweight, and obese women had WHZ scores that were 0.26 [95% CI: 0.08, 0.44), 0.50 [95% CI: 0.30, 0.71), and 0.61 [95% CI: 0.37, 0.84] units higher than children of underweight women, respectively. There was no association between maternal BMI and child WHZ for children under-two.
The findings indicate that the weight status of mother's is positively associated with that of their children, particularly after age 2. These associations further strengthen the call for research regarding interventions and policies aimed at healthy weight promotion among mothers and their children collectively, rather than focusing on individuals in isolation.
体重状况的家族一致性是一个新兴的研究领域，可能为超越个体并在家庭环境中开展干预措施提供指导。在巴基斯坦家庭中，体重状况一致性的相关数据非常有限。
我们利用 2017-18 年的人口与健康调查数据，评估了巴基斯坦全国代表性家庭中母亲和子女体重状况之间的关联。我们的分析包括 3465 对母子对，仅限于 5 岁以下且母亲有体重指数（BMI）信息的儿童。我们使用线性回归模型来评估母亲 BMI 类别（体重不足、正常体重、超重、肥胖）与儿童身高体重指数（WHZ）之间的关联，同时考虑了母亲和儿童的社会人口特征。我们在所有 5 岁以下儿童中评估了这些关系，并按儿童年龄（2 岁以下和 2 至 5 岁）进行了分层。
在所有 5 岁以下儿童和 2 至 5 岁儿童中，母亲 BMI 与儿童 WHZ 呈正相关。对于所有 5 岁以下儿童，正常体重、超重和肥胖妇女的子女 WHZ 评分分别比体重不足妇女的子女高 0.21（95%置信区间：0.04，0.37）、0.43（95%置信区间：0.25，0.62）和 0.51（95%置信区间：0.30，0.71）单位。对于 2 至 5 岁的儿童，正常体重、超重和肥胖妇女的子女 WHZ 评分分别比体重不足妇女的子女高 0.26（95%置信区间：0.08，0.44）、0.50（95%置信区间：0.30，0.71）和 0.61（95%置信区间：0.37，0.84）单位。2 岁以下儿童的母亲 BMI 与儿童 WHZ 之间没有关联。
研究结果表明，母亲的体重状况与子女的体重状况呈正相关，尤其是在 2 岁以后。这些关联进一步强调了研究的必要性，即需要针对母亲及其子女的集体健康体重促进措施制定干预措施和政策，而不是孤立地关注个体。
