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Maternal prepregnancy body mass index and psychomotor development in children
Yasmin H Neggers1, Robert L Goldenberg, Sharon L Ramey
1Department of Human Nutrition, University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, AL, USA. yneggers@ches.ua.edu
Insights
Maternal obesity before pregnancy is linked to lower intellectual ability in children, not motor skills. This study highlights the importance of maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) for child neurodevelopment.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Neurodevelopmental Pediatrics
- Maternal-Fetal Medicine
Background:
- Investigated the association between maternal nutritional status and psychomotor development in low-income African-American children.
- Hypothesized that maternal body mass index (BMI) would correlate with child neurodevelopmental outcomes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the impact of maternal pre-pregnancy nutritional status, specifically BMI, on the psychomotor development of offspring.
- To identify potential risks associated with maternal overweight and obesity for child cognitive and motor skills.
Main Methods:
- Prospective study involving 355 low-income African-American children assessed at a mean age of 5.3 years.
- Maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and weight gain during pregnancy were used to assess nutritional status.
- Children underwent psychomotor tests measuring general intelligence and motor skills.
Main Results:
- Maternal pre-pregnancy BMI was a significant negative predictor of children's IQ and nonverbal ability.
- Children of obese mothers had approximately 5-unit lower IQ and nonverbal scores compared to children of normal-weight mothers.
- Childcare status and maternal receptive language scores also significantly predicted children's cognitive outcomes.
Conclusions:
- Maternal obesity prior to pregnancy is associated with diminished intellectual ability in offspring.
- No significant association was found between maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and children's motor skills.
- Findings suggest a specific risk for cognitive development in children born to obese mothers.
Background:
In a prospective study, the association between maternal nutritional status and psychomotor development of low-income African-American children was evaluated. We hypothesized that low maternal body mass index (BMI) would predict worse neurodevelopmental status in children, while higher maternal BMIs would be associated with better neurodevelopmental outcomes.
Methods:
Psychomotor tests for general intelligence and motor skills were given to 355 children at a mean age of 5.3 years. Maternal nutritional status was assessed by prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) and weight gain during pregnancy.
Results:
Fifty-four percent of the women in this study were overweight or obese. The means of the general IQ, nonverbal and verbal ability, and Gross Motor Scales of the children were 82.1 +/- 12.6, 87.4 +/- 15.7, 80.1 +/- 10.8 and 332.3 +/- 13.2, respectively. Seventeen percent of the children had general IQ scores of less than 70. To our surprise, in multiple regression analyses, adjusting for other covariates, maternal prepregnancy BMI was a significant negative predictor of IQ (beta = - 0.25, P = 0.001) and nonverbal ability (beta = - 0.29, P = 0.02). The IQ and nonverbal scores of children of women who were obese before pregnancy were approximately 5 units lower than for children whose mothers had a normal prepregnancy BMI. The other significant predictors of IQ and nonverbal scores of the children were childcare status (beta = 3.5, P = 0.04 and beta = 0.26, P < 0.0001, respectively) and the mother's receptive language scores (beta = 5.2, P = 0.01 and beta = 0.25, P < 0.0001, respectively).
Conclusion:
This study of low-income African-American children indicates that obese women are at risk of having children with diminished intellectual ability, but not motor skills.