Children with high body mass index (BMI) are at heightened risk of developing health issues in adulthood, yet the causality between childhood BMI and adult psychiatric disorders remains unclear. Using a life course Mendelian randomization (MR) framework, we investigated the causal effects of childhood and adulthood BMI on adult psychiatric disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease, anxiety, major depressive disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and schizophrenia, using data from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium and FinnGen study. Childhood BMI was significantly associated with an increased risk of schizophrenia, while adulthood BMI was associated with a decreased risk of OCD and schizophrenia. Multivariable MR analyses indicated a direct causal effect of childhood BMI on schizophrenia, independent of adulthood BMI and lifestyle factors. No evidence of causal associations was found between childhood BMI and other psychiatric outcomes. The sensitivity analyses yielded broadly consistent findings. These findings highlight the critical importance of early-life interventions to mitigate the long-term consequences of childhood adiposity.

中文翻译：

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评估儿童期和成年期体重指数对成人主要精神疾病的不同影响


体重指数 （BMI） 高的儿童在成年后出现健康问题的风险更高，但儿童 BMI 与成人精神疾病之间的因果关系仍不清楚。使用生命历程孟德尔随机化 （MR） 框架，我们调查了儿童和成年 BMI 对成人精神疾病的因果影响，包括阿尔茨海默病、焦虑、重度抑郁症、强迫症 （OCD） 和精神分裂症，使用来自精神病基因组学联盟和 FinnGen 研究的数据。儿童 BMI 与精神分裂症风险增加显著相关，而成年 BMI 与强迫症和精神分裂症风险降低相关。多变量 MR 分析表明，儿童 BMI 对精神分裂症有直接的因果影响，与成年 BMI 和生活方式因素无关。没有发现儿童 BMI 与其他精神结局之间存在因果关系的证据。敏感性分析得出了大致一致的结果。这些发现强调了早期生活干预对减轻儿童肥胖的长期后果的至关重要性。