Associations between adverse childhood experiences and obesity among young US adults

IF 3.6 3区医学 Q1 PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

Annals of Epidemiology Pub Date : 2025-11-01 Epub Date: 2025-09-16 DOI:10.1016/j.annepidem.2025.09.009

Kiran Thapa PhD , Ye Shen PhD , José F. Cordero MD, MPH , Emily Anne Vall PhD , Janani Rajbhandari-Thapa PhD

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Purpose

We examined whether adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with obesity in young adulthood, and whether these associations differ by sex.

Methods

We used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, a nationally representative cohort of U.S. adolescents followed into adulthood (age 33–43 years) across five waves. Our sample included 5193 participants with measured anthropometrics at wave V (2016–18). Modified Poisson regression estimated risk ratios (RR) for general obesity (body mass index ≥ 30 kg/m²) and abdominal obesity (waist circumference >102 cm for males, >88 cm for females) associated with individual and cumulative ACEs, adjusting for baseline BMI, co-occurring ACEs, and sociodemographic covariates. Sex-stratified models assessed heterogeneity in effects.

Results

Childhood physical abuse was independently associated with higher risk of general obesity, particularly among females (aRR: 1.23; 95 % CI: 1.05–1.45). Exposure to ≥ 4 ACEs was associated with increased risk of both general (aRR: 1.32; 95 % CI: 1.15–1.52) and abdominal obesity (aRR: 1.18; 95 % CI: 1.02–1.37), independent of childhood obesity.

Conclusions

ACEs, especially physical abuse and cumulative exposure, were linked to higher risk of obesity, suggesting that traumatic events may play an important role in young adulthood obesity, especially in females.

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不良童年经历与美国年轻人肥胖之间的关系

目的：我们研究童年不良经历（ace）是否与成年早期肥胖相关，以及这些关联是否因性别而异。方法：我们使用了来自全国青少年到成人健康纵向研究的数据，这是一个全国代表性的美国青少年队列，分为五波，一直跟踪到成年（33-43岁）。我们的样本包括5193名参与者，他们在波V（2016-18）测量了人体测量学。修正泊松回归估计了与个体和累积ace相关的一般性肥胖（体重指数≥30 kg/m²）和腹部肥胖（男性腰围1010cm，女性腰围88cm）的风险比（RR），校正了基线BMI、并发ace和社会人口协变量。性别分层模型评估了效果的异质性。结果：儿童期身体虐待与一般肥胖的高风险独立相关，尤其是女性（aRR: 1.23; 95% CI: 1.05-1.45）。暴露于≥4次ace与一般（aRR: 1.32; 95% CI: 1.15-1.52）和腹部肥胖（aRR: 1.18; 95% CI: 1.02-1.37）的风险增加相关，与儿童肥胖无关。结论：ace，特别是身体虐待和累积暴露，与青年肥胖的高风险有关，强调了创伤知情方法预防肥胖的必要性。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Annals of Epidemiology 医学-公共卫生、环境卫生与职业卫生

CiteScore

7.40

自引率

1.80%

发文量

207

审稿时长

59 days

期刊介绍： The journal emphasizes the application of epidemiologic methods to issues that affect the distribution and determinants of human illness in diverse contexts. Its primary focus is on chronic and acute conditions of diverse etiologies and of major importance to clinical medicine, public health, and health care delivery.