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Parental, child BMI categories linked

Nearly 1 in 3 parents who were eligible for the CDC’s National Diabetes Prevention Program also had at least one child who was overweight or obese, according to findings recently published in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine. The results show that the nationwide program can be leveraged to reach high-risk children, researchers said.

“Clustering of [diabetes-related] modifiable and nonmodifiable risk factors in families highlights the potential for multigenerational approaches to identify high-risk individuals and prevent disease via evidence-based interventions,” Maya Venkataramani, MD, MPH, an assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and colleagues wrote.

“The national focus to identify and intervene on the lifestyle of adults at high risk for type 2 diabetes development, led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Diabetes Prevention Program could provide a unique platform to identify and intervene on children at high risk for type 2 diabetes and other lifestyle associated conditions,” they continued.

Researchers analyzed data from 3,905 children aged 12 to 17 years whose BMI data were available and who also had least one parent eligible for the CDC’s National Diabetes Prevention Program.

Venkataramani and colleagues found that 25.8% of children were overweight or obese, and 68.1% of linked parents were overweight or obese. Among parents, 9.5% were likely eligible to participate in the National Diabetes Prevention Program; this eligibility was positively correlated with a child being overweight or obese (P < .001), and more than one-third of children with eligible parents were either overweight or obese.

“Family-oriented programming may have a greater impact on both adults and children than individual-focused interventions and should be considered as one approach to reduce type 2 diabetes risk at the population level,” Venkataramani and colleagues wrote.

“There is emerging and encouraging evidence to suggest that adaptations of the National Diabetes Prevention Program intervention that also address child health behaviors may be effective in improving children’s weight trajectories,” they added. – by Janel Miller

Disclosures: Venkataramani reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the study for all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.