Comparison of associations of maternal peri-pregnancy and paternal anthropometrics with child anthropometrics from birth through age 7 y assessed in the Danish National Birth Cohort.

Background: Maternal prepregnancy adiposity may influence child adiposity beyond the transmitted genetic effects, which, if true, may accelerate the obesity epidemic, but the evidence for this mechanism is inconsistent.

Objective: The aim was to assess whether the associations of maternal body mass index (BMI) with child anthropometric measurements from birth through infancy and at 7 y of age exceed those of paternal associations.

Design: In the Danish National Birth Cohort, information on parental and child anthropometric measures is available for 30,655 trio families from maternal interviews during pregnancy and the postpartum period and from a 7-y follow-up.