The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Associations between grip strength of parents and their 4-year-old children: findings from the Southampton Women's Survey

Associations between grip strength of parents and their 4-year-old children: findings from the Southampton Women's Survey
Associations between grip strength of parents and their 4-year-old children: findings from the Southampton Women's Survey
Relationships between birthweight and grip strength throughout the life course
suggest that early influences on the growth and development of muscle are important
for long-term muscle function. However, little is known about parental influences on
children’s grip strength. We have explored this in the Southampton Women’s Survey,
a prospective general population cohort study from before conception through childhood.
Grip strength was measured using a Jamar handgrip dynamometer in the
mother at 19 weeks’ gestation and her partner, and in the child at age 4 years. Prepregnancy
heights and weights were measured in the mothers; reported weights and
measured heights were available for the fathers.
Complete data on parents and children were available for 444 trios. In univariable
analyses, both parents’ grip strengths were significantly associated with that of the
child (r = 0.17, P < 0.001 for mothers; r = 0.15, P = 0.002 for fathers). These correlations
were similar to that between the grip strength of the mothers and the fathers (r = 0.17,
P < 0.001). In the multivariable model, after adjustment for child’s height and physical
activity, the correlations with the child’s grip strength were attenuated, being 0.10
(P = 0.02) and 0.11 (P = 0.01) for mothers’ and fathers’ grip strength respectively. The
findings show that grip strength of each parent is associated with that of the child,
indicating that heritable influences and the shared family environment influence the
development of muscle strength. This contributes to our understanding of the role of
heritable and environmental factors on early muscle growth and development, which
are important for muscle function across the life course.
grip strength, parent, child, heritability, muscle function
0269-5022
27-33
Inskip, Hazel M.
5fb4470a-9379-49b2-a533-9da8e61058b7
Macdonald-Wallis, Corrie
02b5800b-edbd-4142-b25b-e5018c543e11
Kapasi, Tasneem
0dbc254f-bca9-4c2d-9094-cc62b449d8a2
Robinson, Siân M.
ba591c98-4380-456a-be8a-c452f992b69b
Godfrey, Keith M.
0931701e-fe2c-44b5-8f0d-ec5c7477a6fd
Cooper, Cyrus
e05f5612-b493-4273-9b71-9e0ce32bdad6
Harvey, Nicholas C.
ce487fb4-d360-4aac-9d17-9466d6cba145
Aihie Sayer, Avan
fb4c2053-6d51-4fc1-9489-c3cb431b0ffb
Inskip, Hazel M.
5fb4470a-9379-49b2-a533-9da8e61058b7
Macdonald-Wallis, Corrie
02b5800b-edbd-4142-b25b-e5018c543e11
Kapasi, Tasneem
0dbc254f-bca9-4c2d-9094-cc62b449d8a2
Robinson, Siân M.
ba591c98-4380-456a-be8a-c452f992b69b
Godfrey, Keith M.
0931701e-fe2c-44b5-8f0d-ec5c7477a6fd
Cooper, Cyrus
e05f5612-b493-4273-9b71-9e0ce32bdad6
Harvey, Nicholas C.
ce487fb4-d360-4aac-9d17-9466d6cba145
Aihie Sayer, Avan
fb4c2053-6d51-4fc1-9489-c3cb431b0ffb

Inskip, Hazel M., Macdonald-Wallis, Corrie, Kapasi, Tasneem, Robinson, Siân M., Godfrey, Keith M., Cooper, Cyrus, Harvey, Nicholas C. and Aihie Sayer, Avan (2012) Associations between grip strength of parents and their 4-year-old children: findings from the Southampton Women's Survey. Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology, 26 (1), 27-33. (doi:10.1111/j.1365-3016.2011.01231.x). (PMID:22150705)

Record type: Article

Abstract

Relationships between birthweight and grip strength throughout the life course
suggest that early influences on the growth and development of muscle are important
for long-term muscle function. However, little is known about parental influences on
children’s grip strength. We have explored this in the Southampton Women’s Survey,
a prospective general population cohort study from before conception through childhood.
Grip strength was measured using a Jamar handgrip dynamometer in the
mother at 19 weeks’ gestation and her partner, and in the child at age 4 years. Prepregnancy
heights and weights were measured in the mothers; reported weights and
measured heights were available for the fathers.
Complete data on parents and children were available for 444 trios. In univariable
analyses, both parents’ grip strengths were significantly associated with that of the
child (r = 0.17, P < 0.001 for mothers; r = 0.15, P = 0.002 for fathers). These correlations
were similar to that between the grip strength of the mothers and the fathers (r = 0.17,
P < 0.001). In the multivariable model, after adjustment for child’s height and physical
activity, the correlations with the child’s grip strength were attenuated, being 0.10
(P = 0.02) and 0.11 (P = 0.01) for mothers’ and fathers’ grip strength respectively. The
findings show that grip strength of each parent is associated with that of the child,
indicating that heritable influences and the shared family environment influence the
development of muscle strength. This contributes to our understanding of the role of
heritable and environmental factors on early muscle growth and development, which
are important for muscle function across the life course.

This record has no associated files available for download.

More information

e-pub ahead of print date: 8 November 2011
Published date: January 2012
Keywords: grip strength, parent, child, heritability, muscle function
Organisations: Faculty of Health Sciences

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 208575
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/208575
ISSN: 0269-5022
PURE UUID: eb1681dc-8c0f-4153-8f09-b7321b8b0add
ORCID for Hazel M. Inskip: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-8897-1749
ORCID for Siân M. Robinson: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-1766-7269
ORCID for Keith M. Godfrey: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-4643-0618
ORCID for Cyrus Cooper: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-3510-0709
ORCID for Nicholas C. Harvey: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-8194-2512

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 20 Jan 2012 12:24
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 02:58

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: Hazel M. Inskip ORCID iD
Author: Corrie Macdonald-Wallis
Author: Tasneem Kapasi
Author: Siân M. Robinson ORCID iD
Author: Cyrus Cooper ORCID iD
Author: Avan Aihie Sayer

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×