Maternal Gestational and Postdelivery Weight Gain and Child Weight

Maternal gestational weight gain (GWG) is a risk factor for the development of overweight in her child. It is unknown whether GWG programs the child's health or whether GWG indicates a shared familial lifestyle during childhood. To disentangle these influences, we studied the association of GWG and postdelivery maternal weight change simultaneously with child's weight development.

We used data from 3367 children participating in a birth cohort that started in 1996 in the Netherlands. Weight and height were self-reported. GWG was categorized as "inadequate," "adequate," and "excessive." Multivariable regression and mixed models were used to study maternal and child weight changes.

Children of mothers with excessive GWG had a higher BMI z score and overweight prevalence (odds ratio [OR] 1.20; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.99 to 1.46) throughout childhood. Children of mothers with a high (≥1 kg/year) postdelivery weight gain had a 0.14 (95% CI, -0.08 to 0.36) higher change in BMI z score between age 1 and 14 years than children of mothers with a low (<0.5 kg/year) postdelivery weight gain. Children of mothers with excessive GWG in combination with a high postdelivery weight gain had the highest BMI z score and overweight risk at age 14 years (OR 3.53; 95% CI, 1.70 to 7.33).

Maternal GWG and postdelivery weight gain contribute to child's weight development up to adolescence independently.