Influence of parental obesity on school children.

OBJECTIVE: To find out the association between parental obesity and childhood obesity.
METHODS: Children in middle schools were screened for obesity. For each obese child two controls were studied.
RESULTS: Parental history of obesity was present for 32.7% of obese children. Children with parental history of obesity showed 25.2 times more chances of developing obesity than controls. 33.8% of the obese girls and 31.6% of the obese boys had history of parental obesity. If the father was obese, boys had 6.5 times more chance and girls had 40.1 times more chance of developing obesity. Mother's obesity had an influence on 23.7 % of the boys and only 16 % of the girls.
CONCLUSION: The childhood obesity has been influenced by genetic factors in the present study and it also shows that maternal obesity mainly passes to boys and paternal obesity to girls.