This study aimed to investigate the mother-daughter correlation for
central obesity and other
noncommunicable disease risk factors. The authors used metabolic and anthropometric data from the Tehran
Lipid and
Glucose Study, enrolling 1041 mother-daughter pairs for the current study. Three age strata were defined: 3 to 9 years for childhood (146 mother-daughter pairs), 10 to 17 years for adolescence (395 mother-daughter pairs), and 18 to 25 years for early adulthood (500 mother-daughter pairs). Familial associations for
central obesity and other
noncommunicable disease risk factors were assessed. The prevalence of
central obesity was 44.7% in mothers and 11.2% in daughters (6.2% in the 3-9, 19.2% in the 10-17, and 6.4% in the 18-25 years groups). Mothers with
central obesity were more likely than nonobese mothers to have daughters with
central obesity (10.5% and 1.7%, respectively; P = .0001).
Central obesity indices among daughters were positively correlated with those of their mothers in all 3 age strata. Correlations for other
noncommunicable disease risk factors were analyzed before and after adjusting the risk factor levels for mothers' and daughters' waist circumferences (WCs) within each group to determine whether risk factor correlations were, in part, a result of the
central obesity correlations. After the
non-communicable disease risk factor levels of participants were adjusted for their WCs, the mother-daughter correlations remained significant. The consistent association of
central obesity between mothers and daughters may indicate the key role that could be played by the mother in the primary prevention of
central obesity, particularly in high-risk families.