The Association Between a Parent’s Adverse Childhood Experiences and Children’s Body Weight-Related Outcomes

A parent’s history of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) may influence their children’s weight, though prior research is limited and its results are inconsistent. This cross-sectional study examined the association between parent ACEs and children’s weight-related outcomes among children ( N = 824) at a Midwestern United States teaching hospital. The sample was analyzed by age subgroup, with weight-for-length being the weight-related outcome of interest for children <2 years and body mass index percentile for children ≥2 years. The sample included mostly Black and non-Hispanic children, with ∼10% more males than females. Mean age was 0.6 ± 0.6 years ( i.e. , 7.7 months) for the <2-year subgroup and 8.6 ± 4.8 years for the ≥2 years subgroups. No relationships were found between parent ACEs and their children’s weight-related outcomes, regardless of whether ACEs were examined as a total score, 0–3 versus ≥4, or by ACE type. Findings suggest trauma-informed childhood obesity interventions should focus on children’s ACE histories rather than their parents’ ACE histories.