An Apple from the Tree? A Look at Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Parents and Offspring

Abstract

Objectives: To relate parental cardiometabolic risk factors with corresponding values in their children and assess the influence of adiposity on these associations. Study Design: Associations of adiposity, blood pressure, lipids, fasting insulin and glucose, and a risk factor cluster score were evaluated in a cross sectional study of 179 parents and their children (6-18 years, N=255). Insulin resistance was assessed by euglycemic clamp in parents and children aged 10 or older. Metabolic syndrome in parents was defined by ATPIII criteria. Cluster scores of the risk factors were created based on age-specific z-scores. Analyses included Pearson correlation and linear regression, adjusted for parent and child age, sex, race, and body mass index (BMI), accounting for within-family correlation. Results: We found positive parent-child correlations for measures of adiposity (BMI, BMI percentile, waist, subcutaneous fat, and visceral fat; r=0.22-0.34, all p≤0.003), systolic blood pressure (SBP) (r=0.20, p=0.002), total cholesterol (r=0.39, p<0.001), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (r=0.34, p<0.001), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (r=0.26, p<0.001) triglycerides (r=0.19, p=0.01) and insulin sensitivity (r=0.22, p=0.02) as well as cluster scores (r=0.15, p=0.02). After adjustment for BMI all parent-child correlations, except systolic blood pressure, remained significant. Conclusions: Although adiposity is strongly correlated between parents and children, many cardiometabolic risk factors correlate independent of parent and child BMI. Adverse parental cardiometabolic profiles may identify at-risk children independent of the child’s adiposity status.