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 an d obese parents. Total energy expenditure (TEE) was measured over 14 d ays by use of doubly labeled water and physical activity energy expend iture (AEE) derived by subtracting resting energy expenditure (REE) un der postprandial conditions. Fat and fat-free mass (FFM) were measured in children and parents with use of bioelectrical resistance. There w ere no significant correlations between TEE, REE, or AEE in children ( after adjustment for FFM) and body fat in children or body fat in moth ers or fathers. In three-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA, with FFM as a covariate), there were no significant effects of gender in childr en, obesity in mothers, or obesity in fathers on TEE or AEE in childre n. There was a significant effect of gender and a significant interact ion between obesity in mothers and obesity in fathers on REE; relative to children with two nonobese or two obese parents, REE was similar t o 6% lower in children when mothers only or fathers only were obese. I n conclusion, our data do not support the hypothesis that children of obese parents have major defects in energy expenditure.