Associations of 18-year-old daughters' and mothers' serum leptin, body mass index and DXA-derived fat mass

Abstract

Aim and Methods: We assessed the relationship of the body mass index (BMI) of 187 college female students aged 18 years with the reported BMI of their middle-aged biological parents measured on 2 occasions: when the parents were 18-20 years old and at the time of the study. The relationships of fat mass measured using whole body dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and serum leptin levels were also determined between 148 daughters and middle-aged parents (148 mothers and 59 fathers). Results: The BMI of daughters was associated with their mothers' BMI (r = 0.30, p<0.0001) but not with their fathers' BMI measured when they were 18 years old. Daughters' BMI showed a stronger association with the current BMI of their mothers BMI (r = 0.36, p<0.0001) than that of their fathers' BMI (r = 0.19, p = 0.01). In addition, the serum leptin levels of daughters were correlated with their mothers' leptin values (r = 0.22, p = 0.04). Further, not only total body fat mass (r = 0.19, p<0.05) but also fat mass in the trunk (r = 0.18, p<0.05) and legs (r = 0.17, p<0.05) was associated between daughters and their mothers. Conclusion: The significant correlation between daughters' and mothers' BMI measured when their mothers were 18 years old did not result from shared environmental factors, including the intrauterine environment. The results in the present study therefore suggest that adiposity in 18-year-old daughters may be influenced by the maternal effect. The associations of serum leptin and DXAderived fat mass between daughters and their mothers may support our hypothesis.