ABSTRACT Objective: To verify the association of anthropometric parameters at birth, socioeconomic and biological variables, physical activity, and parental nutritional status with overweight and abdominal obesity in adolescents. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out on 39 public and private schools in Recife (state of Pernambuco, Brazil). The sample consisted of 1,081 teenagers aged from 12 to 17 years. Data were collected from the Study of Cardiovascular Risks in Adolescents (ERICA). Body mass index according to age (BMI-for-age), waist circumference (WC), and waist-to-height ratio (WtHR) were considered as outcome variables, whereas the explanatory variables were birth weight, Röhrer’s Ponderal Index (RPI), biological and socioeconomic variables, physical activity, and parental nutritional status. The crude and adjusted prevalence ratios (PR) for the studied association were estimated by Poisson Regression. Results: The multivariate Poisson regression showed that the variable that remained significantly associated with overweight in adolescence was maternal overweight, PR=1.86 (95% confidence interval [95%CI] 1.09-3.17). High birth weight also remained significantly associated with abdominal obesity assessed by WC, PR=3.25 (95%CI 1.0-9.74). Conclusions: High birth weight may be a marker for abdominal obesity in adolescence; and high maternal BMI, for overweight.