Parental obesity linked to up to 55% increased risk for MASLD among adult offspring
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Key takeaways:
- For every 5 kg/m2 increase in maternal BMI, offspring risk for MASLD increased by 55%.
- Offspring born to overweight parents had nearly threefold increased risk vs. those born to parents of normal weight.
WASHINGTON — Parental obesity was associated with a nearly threefold increased risk for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease among offspring in early adulthood, according to data presented at Digestive Disease Week.
“Notably, there are no widely adopted screening protocols to identify younger patients with MASLD, as the disease is largely silent and doesn’t manifest until later adulthood,” Stefani Tica, MD, MPH, a clinical fellow in pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition at Washington University in St. Louis, told attendees. “Given that hepatic steatosis can begin in childhood, many suspect that there are developmental origins or early triggers for disease.”
Tica continued: “It remains unknown whether specific trajectories of growth through childhood might influence this risk.”
In a prospective, case-cohort study, Tica and colleagues used data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children to investigate the association between parental obesity and incidence of MASLD in adulthood. The birth cohort study enrolled more than 14,000 pregnancies from 1990 to 1992 in Avon, U.K., with offspring monitored periodically from birth to adulthood and transient elastography, along with measurement of plasma and serum biomarkers, performed at age 24 years.
According study results, of nearly 2,000 offspring included in analysis, 350 (18.2%; mean BMI, 30.4; 47.4% women) had MASLD at age 24. Researchers also reported that for every 5 kg/m2 increase in maternal BMI, offspring risk for MASLD increased by 55% (adjusted OR = 1.55; 95% CI, 1.29-1.86), and for every 5 kg/m2 increase in paternal BMI, the risk rose by 44% (aOR = 1.44; 95% CI, 1.16-1.78).
Further, offspring born to two overweight parents (BMI 25) at pregnancy had a 2.91-fold increased risk for MASLD in young adulthood compared with offspring born to parents of normal weight (aOR = 1) or those born to an overweight mother (aOR = 2.23) or father (aOR = 1.4).
“Parental BMI around pregnancy is associated with risk for MASLD in offspring at age 24 with stronger associations observed for maternal obesity,” Tica said. “Family history of obesity, particularly in parents prior to pregnancy, should likely be considered in risk stratification of younger patients with MASLD.”
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Tica S, et al. Parental overweight status around pregnancy and offspring risk of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease in young adulthood. Presented at: Digestive Disease Week; May 18-21, 2024; Washington (hybrid).
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