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Heterogeneity in childhood body mass trajectories in relation to prenatal phthalate exposure

Brianna C Heggeseth1, Nina Holland2, Brenda Eskenazi3

  • 1Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Williams College, Williamstown, MA, 01267, USA; Department of Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science, Macalester College, Saint Paul, MN, 55105, USA.

Environmental Research
|May 19, 2019
PubMed

Insights

Prenatal exposure to certain phthalates may impact children's body mass index (BMI) development. This study found sex-specific links between phthalate metabolites and BMI trajectories in children aged 2-14 years.

Area of Science:

  • Environmental health
  • Pediatric endocrinology
  • Developmental toxicology

Background:

  • Phthalates are widely used chemicals linked to childhood obesity.
  • Understanding phthalate exposure effects on child body mass index (BMI) development is crucial.
  • Previous research in the CHAMACOS cohort suggested a link between prenatal phthalate exposure and childhood BMI.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To characterize heterogeneity in childhood BMI development patterns (ages 2-14).
  • To explore associations between maternal prenatal phthalate exposure and child BMI development.
  • To identify sex-specific, non-linear relationships between phthalates and BMI trajectories.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized data from 335 children in the CHAMACOS cohort study.
  • Employed advanced statistical methods: generalized additive models, growth mixture models, and functional principal component analysis with tree-based methods.
  • Analyzed maternal urinary phthalate concentrations and repeated child height and weight measurements.

Main Results:

  • Identified heterogeneous patterns in childhood BMI development.
  • Found a sex-specific, non-linear association between monoethyl phthalate (MEP) urinary concentrations and child BMI level.
  • Observed evidence suggesting positive associations between DEHP metabolites and BMI stabilization during puberty in girls.

Conclusions:

  • Childhood BMI development is heterogeneous and can be influenced by prenatal phthalate exposure.
  • Prenatal exposure to specific phthalates, like MEP, shows sex-specific associations with BMI trajectories.
  • Further research is warranted to understand the long-term impacts of phthalates on child growth and obesity risk.

Keywords:
Body mass indexDevelopmentPhthalatePrenatalTrajectory

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