Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 8, 2026

Human Placental and Decidual Organ Cultures to Study Infections at the Maternal-fetal Interface
07:04

Human Placental and Decidual Organ Cultures to Study Infections at the Maternal-fetal Interface

Published on: July 21, 2016

21.6K

Maternal weight and infections in early childhood: a cohort study

Samuel Videholm1,2, Sven-Arne Silfverdal1, Georges Reniers3,4

  • 1Department of Clinical Sciences, Paediatrics, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.

Archives of Disease in Childhood
|June 23, 2018
PubMed

Insights

Maternal overweight and obesity during pregnancy increase the risk of hospitalizations for infectious diseases in early childhood. This includes a notable association with perinatal infections, highlighting the importance of maternal health for infant well-being.

Area of Science:

  • Public Health
  • Epidemiology
  • Pediatrics

Background:

  • Maternal pre-pregnancy weight is a significant factor influencing pregnancy outcomes and infant health.
  • Understanding the link between maternal weight and childhood infectious diseases is crucial for preventative strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between maternal weight status during pregnancy and the incidence of infectious disease hospitalizations in early childhood.
  • To explore specific categories of infectious diseases linked to maternal weight.

Main Methods:

  • A population-based cohort study utilizing national Swedish registers.
  • Inclusion of over 693,000 children born between 1998 and 2006.
  • Analysis of hospitalizations for various infectious diseases within the first five years of life.

Main Results:

  • Overweight and obesity in pregnancy were associated with a higher overall incidence of infectious disease hospitalizations (IRR 1.05 and 1.18, respectively).
  • A strong association was observed between maternal overweight/obesity and perinatal infections (IRR 1.34 and 1.72, respectively).
  • No significant association was found for skin, soft tissue, neurological, digestive, or bloodstream infections.

Conclusions:

  • Maternal overweight and obesity during pregnancy are linked to an increased risk of infectious disease hospitalizations in early childhood.
  • The findings underscore the importance of managing maternal weight for preventing childhood infections, particularly perinatal ones.
Abstract

Keywords:
community child healthepidemiologyinfectious diseasesobesitypublic health

More Related Videos

Candidate Gene Testing in Clinical Cohort Studies with Multiplexed Genotyping and Mass Spectrometry05:53

Candidate Gene Testing in Clinical Cohort Studies with Multiplexed Genotyping and Mass Spectrometry

Published on: June 21, 2018

10.7K
Determining the Role of Maternally-Expressed Genes in Early Development with Maternal Crispants10:08

Determining the Role of Maternally-Expressed Genes in Early Development with Maternal Crispants

Published on: December 21, 2021

2.6K

Related Concept Videos

Weighted Mean00:57

Weighted Mean

While taking the arithmetic, geometric, or harmonic mean of a sample data set, equal importance is assigned to all the data points. However, all the values may not always be equally important in some data sets. An intrinsic bias might make it more important to give more weightage to specific values over others.
For example, consider the number of goals scored in the matches of a tournament. While computing the average number of goals scored in the tournament, it may be more important to...
6.4K
Atomic Weight01:25

Atomic Weight

Protons and neutrons have approximately the same mass, about 1.67 × 10-24 grams. Scientists arbitrarily define this amount of mass as one atomic mass unit (amu) or one Dalton. Electrons are much smaller in mass than protons, weighing only 9.11 × 10-28 grams, or about 1/1800 of an atomic mass unit. As a result, they do not contribute much to an element's overall atomic mass. This means that, when considering atomic mass, it is customary to ignore the mass of any electrons and...
13.9K
Mass and Weight01:19

Mass and Weight

Mass and weight are often used interchangeably in everyday conversation. For example,  medical records often show our weight in kilograms, but never in the correct units of newtons. In physics, however, there is an important distinction. Weight is the pull of the Earth on an object. It depends on the distance from the center of the Earth. Weight dramatically varies if we leave the Earth's surface, unlike mass, which does not vary with location. On the Moon, for example, the...
15.4K
Apparent Weight01:09

Apparent Weight

True weight is the measure of the gravitational force acting on an object. However, if the object accelerates, its measured weight is different from its true weight. Similar observations can be made when the object is submerged in water. An object's weight in water is its apparent weight, which is equal to the difference between its true weight and the buoyant forces.
Consider a person standing on a bathroom scale inside an elevator. If the scale is accurate at rest, its reading equals the...
9.9K
Erikson's Theory on Socioemotional Development during Childhood01:28

Erikson's Theory on Socioemotional Development during Childhood

Erik Erikson, a stage theorist, adapted Freud's theory to emphasize social factors in personality development throughout life, a concept known as psychosocial development. Unlike Freud, who focused on early childhood, Erikson believed that personality evolves across eight life stages, each marked by a specific challenge or "crisis." Successful resolution of each stage fosters competence, while failure may lead to feelings of inadequacy.
The first four of Erikson's eight...
1.1K
Cable Subjected to Its Own Weight01:13

Cable Subjected to Its Own Weight

Overhead power transmission lines rely on cables to carry electricity across large distances. To ensure the stability and functionality of these lines, it is crucial to understand the shape and tension experienced by the cables under the influence of their weight.
A generalized loading function is employed to analyze a cable subjected to its own weight. This function considers the force acting along the cable's arc length rather than its projected length, providing a more accurate...
800