Having siblings promotes a more healthy weight status—Whereas only children are at greater risk for higher BMI in later childhood
<h4>Background</h4> Birth order and having at least one sibling are known to be associated with an increased risk for development of overweight. However, there are no studies assessing pre- and postnatal factors for developing overweight within families. Therefore, the present study aime...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2022-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9295960/?tool=EBI |
| _version_ | 1811288071139753984 |
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| author | Claudia Bohn Mandy Vogel Tanja Poulain Andreas Hiemisch Wieland Kiess Antje Körner |
| author_facet | Claudia Bohn Mandy Vogel Tanja Poulain Andreas Hiemisch Wieland Kiess Antje Körner |
| author_sort | Claudia Bohn |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <h4>Background</h4> Birth order and having at least one sibling are known to be associated with an increased risk for development of overweight. However, there are no studies assessing pre- and postnatal factors for developing overweight within families. Therefore, the present study aimed to analyse the association of the mother’s weight gain during pregnancy, prepregnancy BMI, mother’s age at birth, breastfeeding, age gap between siblings, and physical activity together with sibling-related characteristics on the development of overweight in children and adolescents. <h4>Methods</h4> Data were obtained from the longitudinal LIFE Child cohort. The study sample included n = 1932 children, stratified into first-born (n = 578), second-born (n = 608), third-or-later-born single-born siblings (n = 162), only children (n = 526), and twin children (n = 58). Children with chronic or syndromic diseases, born prematurely or from mothers with gestational diabetes were excluded. Data were adjusted for multiple children per family using mixed models. Pregnancy weight gain, prepregnancy BMI and mother’s age were considered prenatal co-variates. Postnatal factors included the duration of breastfeeding and the children’s physical activity level. <h4>Results</h4> Particularly until the onset of puberty, the BMI-SDS differed between single-born siblings, only children and twins, and increased with birth order. Compared to children with siblings, only children exhibited a strong increase in BMI-SDS starting at age nine. A higher age gap between siblings was associated with a higher BMI-SDS in second- and third-or-later-born children. Single-born siblings had the highest rate and duration of breastfeeding. Physical activity was highest in twins and third-or-later-born children and lowest in only children. In a multivariate model, being an only child showed a highly significant association with BMI-SDS. <h4>Conclusion</h4> The present study demonstrated that siblings had a lower BMI-SDS than only children did. For single-born siblings, the association between birth order and increased BMI-SDS seemed to persist only up to 11 years of age. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T03:29:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-713987b6b7bf44ab9f8a3934cbd1f0ba |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T03:29:33Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-713987b6b7bf44ab9f8a3934cbd1f0ba2022-12-22T03:04:32ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032022-01-01177Having siblings promotes a more healthy weight status—Whereas only children are at greater risk for higher BMI in later childhoodClaudia BohnMandy VogelTanja PoulainAndreas HiemischWieland KiessAntje Körner<h4>Background</h4> Birth order and having at least one sibling are known to be associated with an increased risk for development of overweight. However, there are no studies assessing pre- and postnatal factors for developing overweight within families. Therefore, the present study aimed to analyse the association of the mother’s weight gain during pregnancy, prepregnancy BMI, mother’s age at birth, breastfeeding, age gap between siblings, and physical activity together with sibling-related characteristics on the development of overweight in children and adolescents. <h4>Methods</h4> Data were obtained from the longitudinal LIFE Child cohort. The study sample included n = 1932 children, stratified into first-born (n = 578), second-born (n = 608), third-or-later-born single-born siblings (n = 162), only children (n = 526), and twin children (n = 58). Children with chronic or syndromic diseases, born prematurely or from mothers with gestational diabetes were excluded. Data were adjusted for multiple children per family using mixed models. Pregnancy weight gain, prepregnancy BMI and mother’s age were considered prenatal co-variates. Postnatal factors included the duration of breastfeeding and the children’s physical activity level. <h4>Results</h4> Particularly until the onset of puberty, the BMI-SDS differed between single-born siblings, only children and twins, and increased with birth order. Compared to children with siblings, only children exhibited a strong increase in BMI-SDS starting at age nine. A higher age gap between siblings was associated with a higher BMI-SDS in second- and third-or-later-born children. Single-born siblings had the highest rate and duration of breastfeeding. Physical activity was highest in twins and third-or-later-born children and lowest in only children. In a multivariate model, being an only child showed a highly significant association with BMI-SDS. <h4>Conclusion</h4> The present study demonstrated that siblings had a lower BMI-SDS than only children did. For single-born siblings, the association between birth order and increased BMI-SDS seemed to persist only up to 11 years of age.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9295960/?tool=EBI |
| spellingShingle | Claudia Bohn Mandy Vogel Tanja Poulain Andreas Hiemisch Wieland Kiess Antje Körner Having siblings promotes a more healthy weight status—Whereas only children are at greater risk for higher BMI in later childhood PLoS ONE |
| title | Having siblings promotes a more healthy weight status—Whereas only children are at greater risk for higher BMI in later childhood |
| title_full | Having siblings promotes a more healthy weight status—Whereas only children are at greater risk for higher BMI in later childhood |
| title_fullStr | Having siblings promotes a more healthy weight status—Whereas only children are at greater risk for higher BMI in later childhood |
| title_full_unstemmed | Having siblings promotes a more healthy weight status—Whereas only children are at greater risk for higher BMI in later childhood |
| title_short | Having siblings promotes a more healthy weight status—Whereas only children are at greater risk for higher BMI in later childhood |
| title_sort | having siblings promotes a more healthy weight status whereas only children are at greater risk for higher bmi in later childhood |
| url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9295960/?tool=EBI |
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