Association of reduction in parental overweight with reduction in children's overweight with a 3-year follow-up.

Abstract Background. Parental overweight has been reported to be a risk factor predicting obesity of their children. However, the effect of changes in parental overweight on the changes in children's overweight is not yet characterized. Methods. Six hundred five children of 9–10 years underwent physical examinations and a survey concerning parents' body mass index (BMI) with a 3-year follow-up. Results. In families where both parents' BMI was above 25 at baseline, when either parents' BMI decreased to less than 25 kg/m 2 , children improved their adiposity, atherosclerosis index (AI), and systolic blood pressure (SBP). No such improvement was observed in children both of whose parents maintained BMI ≥25 kg/m 2 . Conclusions. Improving parental overweight possibly reduced the risk of overweight in their children. Changes in parental overweight status were associated with changes in overweight status of their children.