Parental obesity linked to slow development in children

A new study from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found a link between slow development in young children and obesity rates of parents.

The study, published in Pediatrics, found that children of obese mothers were more likely to fail tests that measured motor skills, and children with obese fathers were more likely to have problems with social competence. Children born to extremely obese couples were lacking in problem solving abilities. One in five pregnant women in the U.S. is overweight or obese.

The research was completed by scientists at the NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, according to a statement from the organization.

"The previous U.S. studies in this area have focused on the mother's pre- and post-pregnancy weight," said Edwina Yeung, PhD, the study's lead author and an investigator in NICHD's Division of Intramural Population Health Research. "Our study is one of the few that also includes information about fathers, and our results suggest that dad's weight also has significant influence on child development."

Yeung and her team collected data from the Upstate KIDS study, which included more than 5,000 women who enrolled four months after giving birth. The women were from New York, excluding New York City, and were enrolled between 2008 and 2010.

The children were tested at four months old and then six more times through age 3. Children of obese mothers were almost 70 percent more likely to fail a motor skill test by age 3 than children born to normal weight mothers. Children of obese fathers were 75 percent more likely to have fewer social abilities, and children with two obese parents were three times as likely to fail a test measuring their problem solving skills.

Though the study revealed valuable findings, the researchers could not explain exactly why obesity might increase children’s risk for slow development. However, the research could aid physicians when screening young children for developmental delays and administering interventional services.