Parents’ Weight Status and History of Type 2 Diabetes and Their Children’s Growth Trajectories to Young Adulthood

Jannie Nielsen , Emory University
Adam Hulman, Aarhus University
Solveig Cunningham, Emory University

Type 2 diabetes and obesity are two major health problems in the United States. Evidence suggests that the pathophysiological processes leading to both conditions start in childhood. This study examined the role of parents’ metabolic health in the emergence of their children’s metabolic health. Specifically, we used data independently collected from two generations through the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) to delineate growth trajectories from childhood to young adulthood for individuals whose parents did and did not have overweight, obesity or type 2 diabetes. The national PSID cohort has almost two decades of data (from 1999-2015) on weight, height and type 2 diabetes in children and parents. Only children with parents in the normal weight category were in average not overweight or obese at age 24y; children whose parents had obesity or type 2 diabetes were in the overweight category through their childhood, adolescence and young adulthood.

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 Presented in Session 6. Health & Mortality & Aging