Watch Out: Being Obese, Overweight at Age 3 May Up Obesity Risk Later

Being overweight and obese during childhood increases the risk of developing obesity later during adolescence, reports a new study. The findings of the study are published in the journal Pediatric Obesity.

Excess weight at age 3 years was associated with a higher risk of being overweight or obese at age 15 years in a study of adolescents in Japan.

‘Obesity Alert: Excess weight at age 3 years can put you at a higher risk of being overweight or obese later at age 15 years.’

In the study of 1,581 mother-child pairs, pre-pregnancy overweight/obesity in mothers was also a strong predictor of overweight/obesity at age 15 years in children.

After adjustments, being overweight or obese at age 3 years was linked with a more than 4.2-times higher risk of overweight/obesity at age 15 years, and overweight/obesity in mothers was linked with a more than 2.4-times higher risk.

Investigators did not find an association between birth weight and overweight/obesity during adolescence.

"Because family members often share a common lifestyle, interventions for parents and children may be necessary to prevent obesity in adolescents," said first author Satomi Yoshida, PhD, of Kyoto University.

Source: Eurekalert