Energy expenditure in children of lean and obese parents.

We evaluated whether children of obese parents have defects in energy expenditure in a study of 73 children (5 +/- 0.9 yr of age) of lean and obese parents. Total energy expenditure (TEE) was measured over 14 days by use of doubly labeled water and physical activity energy expenditure (AEE) derived by subtracting resting energy expenditure (REE) under postprandial conditions. Fat and fat-free mass (FFM) were measured in children and parents with use of bioelectrical resistance. There were no significant correlations between TEE, REE, or AEE in children (after adjustment for FFM) and body fat in children or body fat in mothers or fathers. In three-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA, with FFM as a covariate), there were no significant effects of gender in children, obesity in mothers, or obesity in fathers on TEE or AEE in children. There was a significant effect of gender and a significant interaction between obesity in mothers and obesity in fathers on REE; relative to children with two nonobese or two obese parents, REE was approximately 6% lower in children when mothers only or fathers only were obese. In conclusion, our data do not support the hypothesis that children of obese parents have major defects in energy expenditure.