Age-specific quantification of overweight/obesity risk factors from infancy to adolescence and differences by educational level of parents.

Objectives: To explore the age-dependent associations between 26 risk factors and BMIin early life, and differences by parental educational level.Methods: Data of 10,310 children (24,155 measurements) aged 2-16 years participatingin a multi-centre European cohort from 2007 to 2014 were utilized. Trajectories ofoverweight/obesity risk factors and their age-specific associations with BMI wereestimated using polynomial mixed-effects models.Results: Exposure to most unfavourable factors was higher in the low/medium comparedto the high education group, e.g., for PC/TV time (12.6 vs. 10.6 h/week). Trajectories ofvarious risk factors markedly changed at an age of 9-11 years. Having a family history ofobesity, maternal BMI, pregnancy weight gain and birth weight were positively associatedwith BMI trajectories throughout childhood/adolescence in both education groups;associations of behavioural factors with BMI were small. Parental unemployment andmigrant background were positively associated with BMI in the low/medium educationgroup.Conclusion: Associations of risk factors with BMI trajectories did not essentially differ byparental education except for social vulnerabilities. The age period of 9-11 years may be asensitive period for adopting unfavourable behaviours.