Parents Bestow BMI Tendencies To Their Children Genetically

February 20, 2017: 12:00 AM EST

A British study has determined that between 35 and 40 percent of a child’s body mass index (BMI) – and as much as 60 percent in a very obese child – is inherited from their mother and father. The study analyzed height and weight data from 100,000 children and their parents in the U.K., U.S., China, Indonesia, Spain and Mexico. The intergenerational transmission of BMI was found to be constant at about 0.2 per parent – i.e., each child’s BMI is on average 20 percent due to the mother and 20 percent due to the father. The results were consistent across all countries, regardless of economic development stage, degree of industrialization, or type of economy. ]

Peter Dolton, Mimi Xiao, "The intergenerational transmission of body mass index across countries", Economics & Human Biology, February 20, 2017, © Elsevier B.V.

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Parents Bestow BMI Tendencies To Their Children Genetically

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