Influence of maternal and paternal IQ on offspring health and health behaviours: evidence for some trans-generational associations using the 1958 British birth cohort study

Purpose Individuals scoring poorly on tests of intelligence (IQ) have been reported as having increased risk of morbidity, premature mortality, and risk factors such as obesity, high blood pressure, poor diet, alcohol and cigarette consumption. Very little is known about the impact of parental IQ o...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Whitley, E. (Author), Gale, C.R (Author), Deary, I.J (Author), Kivimaki, M. (Author), Singh-Manoux, A. (Author), Batty, G.D (Author)
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2013-05.
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Online Access:Get fulltext
LEADER 02136 am a22001933u 4500
001 369349
042 |a dc 
100 1 0 |a Whitley, E.  |e author 
700 1 0 |a Gale, C.R.  |e author 
700 1 0 |a Deary, I.J.  |e author 
700 1 0 |a Kivimaki, M.  |e author 
700 1 0 |a Singh-Manoux, A.  |e author 
700 1 0 |a Batty, G.D.  |e author 
245 0 0 |a Influence of maternal and paternal IQ on offspring health and health behaviours: evidence for some trans-generational associations using the 1958 British birth cohort study 
260 |c 2013-05. 
856 |z Get fulltext  |u https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/369349/1/1-s2.0-S0924933812000168-main.pdf__tid%253Dc807e0ac-43d8-11e4-98cf-00000aacb360%2526acdnat%253D1411556087_1f2f21086d27828bddbc148829a98ec3 
520 |a Purpose Individuals scoring poorly on tests of intelligence (IQ) have been reported as having increased risk of morbidity, premature mortality, and risk factors such as obesity, high blood pressure, poor diet, alcohol and cigarette consumption. Very little is known about the impact of parental IQ on the health and health behaviours of their offspring. Methods We explored associations of maternal and paternal IQ scores with offspring television viewing, injuries, hospitalisations, long standing illness, height and BMI at ages 4 to 18 using data from the National Child Development Study (1958 birth cohort). Results Data were available for 1446 mother-offspring and 822 father-offspring pairs. After adjusting for potential confounding/mediating factors, the children of higher IQ parents were less likely to watch TV (odds ratio (95% confidence interval) for watching 3+ vs. less than 3 hours per week associated with a standard deviation increase in maternal or paternal IQ: 0.75 (0.64, 0.88) or 0.78 (0.64, 0.95) respectively) and less likely to have one or more injuries requiring hospitalisation (0.77 (0.66, 0.90) or 0.72 (0.56, 0.91) respectively for maternal or paternal IQ). Conclusions Children whose parents have low IQ scores may have poorer selected health and health behaviours. Health education might usefully be targeted at these families.  
540 |a other 
655 7 |a Article