Overweight among adolescents and nutritional status of their parents: A systematic review

Abstract

The article seeks to investigate the association between overweight in adolescents and the nutritional state of the parents and identify possible determinants. The search was carried out in the Pubmed, Lilacs, Scielo databases and Virtual Health Library (BVS), were searched regarding the period from 2004 to 2014. The descriptors were: “Adolescent”, “Risk factors”, “Obesity”, “Parents” and “Overweight”. Of the 366 articles, only 07 met al.l the eligibility criteria. Higher prevalence of overweight in adolescents was noted in studies conducted in Brazil and Greece, while the prevalence of obesity was higher in studies conducted in United States. Higher overweight prevalence in male adolescents was verified. All studies showed that the presence of overweight or obesity in the father or the mother increases the risk of adolescents developing overweight, and this risk is even greater when both parents are obese. The strong association between overweight in adolescents and nutritional status of the parents found in the selected studies is related to many factors, thus the presence of a risk factor, such as genetic predisposition, can be ameliorated by a protective factor, such as healthy eating habits.