Short communicationDoes high optimism protect against the inter-generational transmission of high BMI? The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study
Introduction
Parental overweight and obesity are well-known risk factors for offspring obesity, yet few studies have examined protective psychosocial factors that may mitigate the spread of obesity from one generation to the next. Psychosocial factors which are likely implicated in the intergenerational transmission of overweight include childhood socioeconomic status (SES), depression, psychosocial stress, and social support [1], [2], [3], [4]. Another protective psychosocial factor, which may play a similar role, is optimism, generally defined as having a positive outlook about the future [5].
Optimism has shown to positively associate with a healthy diet and a low body mass index (BMI) in a population-based study of young adults [6], and with healthy behaviours including increased physical activity and eating a healthier diet in elderly men [7]. Another study found that in a cohort of middle-aged adults, optimism was associated with a healthier lipid profile, mediated partly by health behaviours such as diet as well as BMI [8]. Despite emerging research assessing the impact of optimism on BMI and weight gain, research examining optimism in the context of the intergenerational transmission of obesity is lacking.
Boehm and Kubzansky [9] recently developed a model to explain the association between positive psychological factors (including optimism) and physical health. The model suggests that the association between positive psychological wellbeing and cardiovascular disease is mediated by restorative processes, which help to buffer against ill health (e.g. eating a healthy diet), as well as by the absence of deteriorative processes that negatively affect health (e.g. smoking). These restorative and deteriorative processes include health behaviours as well as biological functions (e.g. inflammation or cholesterol).
In line with this model, we wanted to explore whether optimism buffers against the familial transmission of high BMI. Using data from the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study (Young Finns Study), a prospective study design initiated 37 years ago; we examined whether: [1] optimism in young adulthood predicts BMI in mid-adulthood, and [2] optimism interacts with parental BMI to mitigate the intergenerational transmission of high BMI.
Section snippets
Methods
The Young Finns Study is a prospective cohort study initiated in 1980 to examine cardiovascular risk factors in a randomly selected cohort of 3596 Finnish children aged 3–18 years old (see Raitakari et al.) [10]. The current study included an analytic sample of 1043 participants with no missing data on key variables: parental BMI, parental socioeconomic status, BMI in adulthood, and optimism in adulthood. Participants provided written informed consent and the study was approved by the ethics
Results
Attrition analyses showed that participants in the analytic sample had higher optimism (p < 0.001, Cohen's d = 0.18) as well as lower adulthood BMI (p = 0.013, Cohen's d = 0.11) and baseline BMI measured in 2001 (p = 0.003, Cohen's d = 0.12), compared to participants from the broader sample. There were no differences in maternal BMI (p = 0.265, Cohen's d = 0.04) or paternal BMI (p = 0.997, Cohen's d = 0.00). The parents from the analytic sample were also more likely to have a higher SES (p < 0.001).
Out of the 1043
Discussion
To our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate the protective effects of high optimism in the intergenerational transmission of high BMI, thereby also adding to the literature on positive psychological factors and health outcomes [9]. Another novel finding was that optimism was related to change in BMI over time, with the supplementary analysis (where we adjusted for baseline BMI) suggesting that high optimism is driving low BMI. Both of these findings were only significant in women.
Funding sources
The Young Finns Study has been financially supported by the Academy of Finland: grants 286284, 134309 (Eye), 126925, 121584, 124282, 129378 (Salve), 117787 (Gendi), and 41071 (Skidi); the Social Insurance Institution of Finland; Competitive State Research Financing of the Expert Responsibility area of Kuopio, Tampere and Turku University Hospitals (grant X51001); Juho Vainio Foundation; Paavo Nurmi Foundation; Finnish Foundation for Cardiovascular Research; Finnish Cultural Foundation; Tampere
Conflict of interest
The authors have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose. The authors have no financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose.
Acknowledgements
We greatly acknowledge Irina Lisinen, Johanna Ikonen and Ville Aalto for assistance in managing the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns dataset.
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