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Associations between maternal prepregnancy body mass index and child neurodevelopment at 2 years of age

S N Hinkle1, L A Schieve, A D Stein

  • 1Nutrition and Health Sciences, Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.

International Journal of Obesity (2005)
|September 12, 2012
PubMed

Insights

Maternal prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) impacts child development. Both underweight and obese mothers had children with lower mental development scores and increased risk of developmental delays at age 2.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Neurodevelopment
  • Maternal Health
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Maternal underweight and obesity are linked to adverse offspring outcomes.
  • Limited research exists on the association between maternal prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) and children's neurodevelopmental trajectories.
  • Understanding these associations is crucial for early intervention and maternal health guidance.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between maternal prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) and neurodevelopmental outcomes in 2-year-old children.
  • To determine if maternal BMI categories (underweight, normal, overweight, obese) are associated with differences in mental and psychomotor development.
  • To assess the risk of delayed mental or motor development in relation to maternal prepregnancy BMI.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) with 6850 children.
  • Classified maternal prepregnancy BMI into underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obese categories (I, II, III).
  • Assessed children's mental development index (MDI) and psychomotor development index (PDI) using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development-II, adjusting for sociodemographic factors.

Main Results:

  • Children of mothers in all non-normal BMI categories exhibited lower MDI scores compared to children of normal weight mothers.
  • The most significant adjusted difference in MDI was observed in children of mothers with class II and III obesity (-2.13).
  • Increased risk of delayed mental development was found for children of underweight (RR 1.36) and class II/III obese mothers (RR 1.38); no differences in PDI or motor delay were observed.

Conclusions:

  • Maternal prepregnancy underweight and severe obesity are associated with an increased risk of delayed mental development in 2-year-old children.
  • No significant association was found between maternal prepregnancy BMI categories and motor development delays.
  • Findings highlight the importance of maternal prepregnancy nutritional status for children's cognitive development.
Abstract

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