Obesity in parents linked to MASLD risk in adult offspring

Excess parental adiposity prior to pregnancy is associated with increased likelihood of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) development in offspring as adults, as mediated by higher BMI throughout childhood, according to a study.

Researchers looked at 1,933 offspring from the UK Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) to evaluate the associations between parental prepregnancy BMI and the odds of offspring MASLD at age 24 years.

MASLD was defined as hepatic steatosis on transient elastography and the presence of at least one cardiometabolic risk factor. Causal mediation analysis by childhood adiposity measures was also performed.

MASLD at age 24 years was identified in 10.4 percent of offspring. Prepregnancy maternal and paternal obesity showed an independent association with offspring MASLD. The odds of MASLD in adult offspring rose by 10 percent with each 1-kg/m² increase in maternal BMI (odds ratio [OR], 1.10, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.06–1.14) and by 9 percent with each 1-kg/m² increase in paternal BMI (OR, 1.09, 95 percent CI, 1.04–1.13).

Prepregnancy overweight or obesity in both parents was associated with more than threefold greater odds of MASLD in adult offspring compared with normal weight in both parents (OR, 3.73, 95 percent CI, 2.43–5.73). Notably, 67 percent of this association was mediated by cumulative excess childhood BMI.

The findings suggest that early interventions for reducing excess adiposity have the potential to reduce the burden of MASLD among future generations.