Parental lifestyle during the first 1000 days and risk of childhood overweight and obesity.
Overweight and obesity impact more than 350 million children and adolescents worldwide, including almost 40 million children below 5 years of age. In Europe, between 13 and 23% of children aged 2 to 6 are living with overweight or obesity.This high prevalence observed in early childhood suggests the presence of risk factors very early in life. The ‘first 1000 days’, from conception to the child’s second birthday, represent a unique window of opportunity for implementing strategies to prevent overweight and promote the child’s future health. Although obesity has a complex etiology, up to 50% of cases in children could be linked to modifiable risk factors in the family environment. Several studies have shown that poor maternal diet quality, a sedentary lifestyle, and smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of childhood overweight and obesity. However, these factors have often been analyzed in isolation, although they frequently coexist within the family lifestyle and may interact synergistically.
As part of the European EndObesity project (https://www.healthydietforhealthylife.eu/project/endobesity),the work of Marion Lecorguillé and Adrien Aubert, 2 post-doctoral students in the OPPaLE team at CRESS, has shown that parental lifestyles– including poor diet quality, parental smoking, high parental body mass index, low levels of physical activity and sedentary behaviors– are associated with an increased risk of overweight and obesity in children aged between 5 and 12 [1, 2]. A socio-ecological approach has been used to identify the social determinants of the parental lifestyle in pregnancy [3]. High socio-economic status, foreign geographical origin, wealthier neighbourhoods, and participation in antenatal preparation sessions are associated with healthy parental lifestyles in pregnancy. Taken together, these results illustrate the importance of promoting healthyparental lifestyle during the first 1000 days to prevent the future risk of offspringoverweight and obesity. Our findings also highlight the need to consider not only individual characteristics but also the structural factors that influence parents’ lifestyles, to reduce social inequalities in health within families more effectively.
Would you like to learn more about the subject?
EndObesity has created an e-learning module on the prevention of childhood obesity in early life for health students and professionals. The module is free and can be used to obtain certification.
https://chifha.med.lmu.de/course/index.php?categoryid=100
Published works:
- [1] Lecorguillé M, Schipper MC, O’Donnell A, et al. Impact of parental lifestyle patterns in the preconception and pregnancy periods on childhood obesity. Front Nutr. 2023;10:1166981. doi:10.3389/fnut.2023.1166981. Read the article here [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37275643/]
- [2] Aubert AM, Lecorguillé M, Schipper MC, et al. Healthy Lifestyle in the First 1000 Days and Overweight and Obesity Throughout Childhood. Pediatrics. 2025;155(2):e2024066406. doi:10.1542/peds.2024-066406. Read the article here [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39875089/]
- [3] Lecorguillé M, Schipper MC, Aubert AM, et al. Socioecological correlates of parental lifestyle patterns during the antenatal period. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2025;22(1):18. doi:10.1186/s12966-024-01697-1. Read the article here [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39948636/]
Adrien Aubert, adrien.aubert@inserm.fr ;
Marion Lecorguillé, marion.lecorguille@inserm.fr
