Maternal prepregnancy weight status and associations with children's development and disabilities at kindergarten
S N Hinkle1, A J Sharma, S Y Kim
1Division of Reproductive Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Insights
Children born to severely obese mothers face a higher risk of learning and behavioral issues. This study highlights the importance of maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) on child development outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Public Health
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- Maternal obesity is a growing concern, affecting women of reproductive age.
- Developmental disabilities in children are on the rise globally.
- Understanding the impact of maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) on child neurodevelopment is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and physical, developmental, and academic outcomes in children.
- To examine the relationship between maternal BMI and children's reading, math, and motor function.
- To identify potential risks associated with maternal obesity for child development.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) with 5200 children.
- Classified maternal pre-pregnancy BMI into categories: underweight, normal, overweight, obese class I, and obese class II/III.
- Assessed child disabilities (learning/behavioral, physical) and skills (reading, math, motor function) using parent reports and standardized tests.
Main Results:
- Children of mothers with class II/III obesity had a 1.67 times higher risk of learning or behavioral disabilities compared to normal-weight mothers.
- Gross motor function was significantly associated with maternal BMI, though this association attenuated after adjusting for child's current BMI.
- Children's reading scores were significantly associated with maternal BMI (P=0.01).
Conclusions:
- Severely obese mothers (class II/III BMI) had children with an increased risk of learning and behavioral disabilities by kindergarten.
- No increased risk for physical disabilities was observed in children of severely obese mothers.
- Maternal pre-pregnancy BMI is a significant factor associated with specific developmental and academic outcomes in children.
Objective:
Obesity is prevalent among women of reproductive age, and developmental disabilities in children continue to increase. We examined associations between mother's prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) and physical and developmental disabilities, and objective measures of reading and math skills and fine and gross motor function in children.
Methods:
We used the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B; n=5200), a cohort of children born in 2001 and followed until kindergarten. Children were classified according to maternal prepregnancy BMI (in kg per m(2)): underweight (BMI <18.5), normal weight (BMI 18.5-24.9), overweight (BMI 25.0-29.9), obese class I (BMI 30.0-34.9) and obese class II/III (BMI ≥ 35.0). Parent reports of doctor-diagnosed disabilities were collected up to kindergarten and classified as learning and behavioral or physical. Children's reading and math and fine and gross motor function were assessed at kindergarten according to standardized tests. Linear and modified logistic regression models were adjusted for maternal sociodemographic variables, family enrichment variables, and children's sex, age and year of kindergarten entry. Additional adjustment for current child BMI was performed in separate models. All data are weighted to be nationally representative of the children born in 2001.
Results:
Compared with children of normal-weight mothers, children born to obese class II/III mothers had an increased risk of learning or behavioral (risk ratio 1.67; 95% confidence interval 1.27, 2.21)), but not physical disabilities (risk ratio 0.57; 95% confidence interval 0.27, 1.22). Gross (P<0.001), but not fine (P=0.06) motor function was significantly associated with maternal BMI, but gross motor function was attenuated after adjustment for current child BMI (P=0.05). Children's reading scores (P=0.01) but not math scores (P=0.11) were significantly associated with maternal BMI.
Conclusions:
In this nationally representative US cohort, children born to severely obese mothers had an increased risk for diagnosed learning and behavioral but not physical disabilities by kindergarten.
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