Maternal pre-pregnancy obesity and risk for inattention and negative emotionality in children
1Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden. Alina.Rodriguez@psyk.uu.se
Insights
Maternal pre-pregnancy overweight and obesity are linked to increased attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and emotional regulation difficulties in children, suggesting a role for maternal adiposity in child mental health programming.
Area of Science:
- Reproductive Health
- Child Psychology
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Maternal pre-pregnancy adiposity is a growing public health concern.
- Previous studies suggest a link between maternal overweight/obesity and ADHD symptoms in offspring.
- Further research is needed to confirm and extend these findings, exploring potential confounding factors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To replicate and extend previous findings on the association between maternal pre-pregnancy adiposity and ADHD symptoms.
- To investigate the relationship between maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and children's emotionality and emotion regulation.
- To examine the influence of maternal adiposity on ADHD symptom presentation and clinical relevance.
Main Methods:
- A Swedish population-based prospective pregnancy-offspring cohort (N=1,714) was followed until children were 5 years old.
- Mothers and kindergarten teachers completed validated rating scales for ADHD symptoms, emotionality, and problem duration.
- Statistical analyses adjusted for a comprehensive list of potential confounders, including maternal and birth-related factors, and concurrent variables.
Main Results:
- Maternal pre-pregnancy overweight and obesity predicted higher inattention symptom scores.
- Maternal obesity was associated with a two-fold increased risk of emotion intensity and regulation difficulties, based on teacher reports.
- Teacher reports indicated associations between both maternal overweight and underweight and the presence/duration of problems, while maternal ratings were not associated with pre-pregnancy BMI.
Conclusions:
- Maternal pre-pregnancy overweight and obesity are associated with child inattention symptoms and emotional difficulties.
- Maternal adiposity may play a role in programming child mental health during prenatal development.
- Investigating maternal metabolic function and the potential for prevention strategies targeting pre-pregnancy obesity is warranted.
Objective:
This study aimed to replicate and extend previous work showing an association between maternal pre-pregnancy adiposity and risk for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in children.
Methods:
A Swedish population-based prospective pregnancy-offspring cohort was followed up when children were 5 years old (N = 1,714). Mothers and kindergarten teachers rated children's ADHD symptoms, presence and duration of problems, and emotionality. Dichotomized outcomes examined difficulties of clinical relevance (top 15% of the distribution). Analyses adjusted for pregnancy (maternal smoking, depressive symptoms, life events, education, age, family structure), birth outcomes (birth weight, gestational age, infant sex) and concurrent variables (family structure, maternal depressive symptoms, parental ADHD symptoms, and child overweight) in an attempt to rule out confounding.
Results:
Maternal pre-pregnancy overweight and obesity predicted high inattention symptom scores and obesity was associated with a two-fold increase in risk of difficulties with emotion intensity and emotion regulation according to teacher reports. Means of maternal ratings were unrelated to pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI). Presence and duration of problems were associated with both maternal over and underweight according to teachers.
Conclusions:
Despite discrepancies between maternal and teacher reports, these results provide further evidence that maternal pre-pregnancy overweight and obesity are associated with child inattention symptoms and extend previous work by establishing a link between obesity and emotional difficulties. Maternal adiposity at the time of conception may be instrumental in programming child mental health, as prenatal brain development depends on maternal energy supply. Possible mechanisms include disturbed maternal metabolic function. If maternal pre-pregnancy obesity is a causal risk factor, the potential for prevention is great.
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