TOPLINE:

Children whose parents had overweight or obesity before pregnancy had significantly increased odds of developing metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) by age 24 years, and much of this risk was explained by excess weight gained during childhood.

METHODOLOGY:

• Animal studies have linked parental obesity to a higher risk for MASLD in offspring, and human studies have found similar links with maternal obesity.
• Researchers assessed whether higher prepregnancy BMI in both parents was linked to an increased risk for MASLD in their young adult offspring and whether excess weight gained during childhood explained this link.
• They used data from a UK-based prospective cohort and included singleton offspring born between 1991 and 1992, with parental questionnaires completed during pregnancy and when the offspring were assessed at age 24 years.
• The primary outcome was MASLD, defined as hepatic steatosis and the presence of one or more cardiometabolic risk factors, in offspring at age 24 years.
• Childhood adiposity was measured using repeated BMI assessments between 7 and 17 years of age.

TAKEAWAY:

• Among the 1933 offspring included in the analysis, 201 (10.4%) had MASLD at age 24 years.
• Each 1-unit increase in maternal BMI before pregnancy was linked to a 10% increase in the odds of the offspring developing MASLD (P for trend < .001); each 1-unit increase in paternal BMI was linked to a 9% increase in the odds (P for trend < .001).
• When both parents had overweight or obesity before pregnancy vs when both had normal weight, offspring had 3.73 times the odds of developing MASLD at age 24 years (adjusted odds ratio, 3.73; 95% CI, 2.43-5.73).
• Excess weight accumulated between 7 and 17 years of age accounted for 67% of the increased risk for MASLD associated with both parents having overweight or obesity.

IN PRACTICE:

“Although the mechanisms behind this association are complex, our study suggests a window where early intervention on excess adiposity may decrease the burden of MASLD among future generations,” the authors of the study wrote.

SOURCE:

The study was led by Stefani Tica, MD, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis. It was published online in Gut.

LIMITATIONS:

Parental weight and waist circumference were self-reported rather than clinically measured. The study lacked data on the status of parental MASLD, fathers’ health at the time of pregnancy, and physical activity levels in offspring during early adulthood. Growth measurements before age 7 years were incomplete, and the findings needed validation in more diverse cohorts.

DISCLOSURES:

The study received support from the Wellcome Trust and the UK Medical Research Council, and the prospective cohort study received additional support from the University of Bristol, Bristol, England. One author reported receiving support from the Washington University Pediatric Gastroenterology Research Training Program grant provided by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. One author disclosed providing consultancy services to Need and Bayer.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.