Implications of childhood obesity for adult health: findings from thousandfamilies cohort study

Objective To determine whether being overweight in childhood increases adul t obesity and risk of disease. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting City of Newcastle upon Tyne. Participants 932 members of thousand families 1947 birth cohort, of whom 41 2 attended for clinical examination age 50. Main outcome measures Blood pressure; carotid artery intima-media thickness ; fibrinogen concentration; total, low density lipoprotein, and high densit y lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations; triglyceride concentration; fasti ng insulin and 2 hour glucose concentrations; body mass index; and percenta ge body fat. Results Body mass index at age 9 years was significantly correlated with bo dy mass index age 50 (r = 0.24, P < 0.001) but not with percentage body fat age 50 (r = 0.10, P = 0.07). After adult body mass index had been adjusted for, body mass index at age 9 showed a significant inverse association wit h measures of lipid and glucose metabolism in both sexes and with blood pre ssure in women. However, after adjustment for adult percentage fat instead of body mass index, only the inverse associations with triglycerides (regre ssion coefficient = -0.21, P < 0.01) and total cholesterol (-0.17, P < 0.05 ) in women remained significant. Conclusions Little tracking from childhood overweight to adulthood obesity was found when using a measure of fatness that was independent of build. On ly children who were obese at 13 showed in increased risk of obesity as adu lts. No excess adult health risk from childhood or teenage overweight was f ound. Being thin in childhood offered no protection against adult fatness, and the thinnest children tended to have the highest adult risk at every le vel of adult obesity.