ArticleInternational journal of epidemiology2021
Evaluating the direct effects of childhood adiposity on adult systemic metabolism: a multivariable Mendelian randomization analysis.
Article in International journal of epidemiology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 53 citations in OpenAlex.
- Lifecourse genome-wide association study meta-analysis refines the critical life stages for adiposity's influence on breast cancer risk.Science advances · 2026Pooled it
- Methodological approaches, challenges, and opportunities in the application of Mendelian randomisation to lifecourse epidemiology: A systematic literature review.European journal of epidemiology · 2024Pooled it
- Separating the effects of early and later life adiposity on colorectal cancer risk: a Mendelian randomization study.BMC medicine · 2023Pooled it
- Evaluating the consequences of childhood adiposity on the human plasma proteome at four timepoints across the lifecourse.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Adolescent weight gain trajectories and their associations with biological aging: a genetically informed study.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2026Article
- A structural mean modeling Mendelian randomization approach to investigate the lifecourse effect of adiposity: applied and methodological considerations.American journal of epidemiology · 2026Article
- Assessing the causal and independent impact of parity-related reproductive factors on risk of breast cancer subtypes.BMC medicine · 2025Article
- Are associations of adulthood overweight and obesity with all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, and obesity-related cancer modified by comparative body weight at age 10 years in the UK Biobank study?International journal of obesity (2005) · 2025Article
- The role of body image dissatisfaction in the relationship between body size and disordered eating and self-harm: complimentary Mendelian randomization and mediation analyses.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Article
- Separating the Effects of Early-Life and Adult Body Size on Chronic Kidney Disease Risk: A Mendelian Randomization Study.Journal of obesity & metabolic syndrome · 2025Article
- Investigating the causal effects of childhood and adulthood adiposity on later life mental health outcome: a Mendelian randomization study.BMC medicine · 2025Article
- Advances in Mendelian Randomization Studies of Obesity Over the Past Decade: Uncovering Key Genetic Mechanisms.Diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity : targets and therapy · 2025Review
- Evaluating the distinct effects of body mass index at childhood and adulthood on adult major psychiatric disorders.Science advances · 2024Article
- Mammographic density mediates the protective effect of early-life body size on breast cancer risk.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Characterizing the Causal Pathway From Childhood Adiposity to Right Heart Physiology and Pulmonary Circulation Using Lifecourse Mendelian Randomization.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2024Article
- A lifecourse Mendelian randomization study uncovers age-dependent effects of adiposity on asthma risk.iScience · 2023Article
- Causal associations between female reproductive behaviors and psychiatric disorders: a lifecourse Mendelian randomization study.BMC psychiatry · 2023Article
- Time-varying and tissue-dependent effects of adiposity on leptin levels: A Mendelian randomization study.eLife · 2023Article
- Life course effects of genetic susceptibility to higher body size on body fat and lean mass: prospective cohort study.International journal of epidemiology · 2023Article
- Establishing the relationships between adiposity and reproductive factors: a multivariable Mendelian randomization analysis.BMC medicine · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundIndividuals who are obese in childhood have an elevated risk of disease in adulthood. However, whether childhood adiposity directly impacts intermediate markers of this risk, independently of adult adiposity, is unclear. In this study, we have simultaneously evaluated the effects of childhood and adulthood body size on 123 systemic molecular biomarkers representing multiple metabolic pathways.
methodsTwo-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) was conducted to estimate the causal effect of childhood body size on a total of 123 nuclear magnetic resonance-based metabolic markers using summary genome-wide association study (GWAS) data from up to 24 925 adults. Multivariable MR was then applied to evaluate the direct effects of childhood body size on these metabolic markers whilst accounting for adult body size. Further MR analyses were undertaken to estimate the potential mediating effects of these circulating metabolites on the risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) in adulthood using a sample of 60 801 cases and 123 504 controls.
resultsUnivariable analyses provided evidence that childhood body size has an effect on 42 of the 123 metabolic markers assessed (based on P < 4.07 × 10-4). However, the majority of these effects (35/42) substantially attenuated when accounting for adult body size using multivariable MR. We found little evidence that the biomarkers that were potentially influenced directly by childhood body size (leucine, isoleucine and tyrosine) mediate this effect onto adult disease risk. Very-low-density lipoprotein markers provided the strongest evidence of mediating the long-term effect of adiposity on CAD risk.
conclusionsOur findings suggest that childhood adiposity predominantly exerts its detrimental effect on adult systemic metabolism along a pathway that involves adulthood body size.
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