Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 1, 2025
Author Spotlight: Studying the Impact of Maternal Dietary Deficiencies on Long-Term Offspring Health Outcomes
Published on: June 28, 2024
Short-term fetal nutritional stress and long-term health: Child height
Seyed M Karimi1, Bert B Little1, MohammadAli Mokhtari2
1Department of Health Management and System Sciences, School of Public Health and Information Sciences, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, USA.
Insights
Maternal Ramadan fasting during the second trimester of pregnancy was linked to reduced child height, particularly in boys. This impact on fetal development may affect children
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Endocrinology
- Maternal-Fetal Medicine
- Nutritional Epidemiology
Background:
- Ramadan fasting involves abstaining from food and drink from dawn to sunset.
- In utero exposure to nutritional stress can have long-term effects on child development.
- The second trimester is a critical period for fetal skeletal development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of in utero exposure to Ramadan fasting on child height.
- To determine if Ramadan exposure during specific trimesters affects growth trajectories.
- To assess the association between maternal fasting and offspring height up to age 18.
Main Methods:
- A cohort of children from Tehran, Iran, exposed and unexposed to Ramadan in utero were compared.
- Parental and household characteristics were controlled for.
- Seasonal food consumption patterns were analyzed.
- Child height was measured and associated with prenatal Ramadan exposure, adjusting for confounders.
Main Results:
- Ramadan fasting during the second trimester of gestation was associated with a decrease in child height (0.60-0.67 cm at age 10+).
- This negative association was more pronounced in male children.
- Male children exposed in the second trimester showed an approximate 1 cm height reduction by age 12+.
Conclusions:
- Maternal Ramadan fasting in the second trimester, a key period for bone development, is linked to reduced offspring height.
- This finding is significant as a large proportion of Muslim children experience Ramadan in utero.
- Prenatal nutritional stress during critical developmental windows can have lasting impacts on physical growth.
Objective:
This study examined the impact of in utero exposure to Ramadan, the Islamic fasting month, by trimester on height at ages 0 to 18 for a sample of children from Tehran, Iran. If exposure to Ramadan is associated with significant nutritional stress to the fetus, the fetus's adaptive responses to nutritional insufficiency could manifest as changes in height during childhood, long before any effects on aging or disease risk at older ages.
Methods:
Children who were exposed and not exposed to Ramadan in utero were compared to identify any systematic difference between their parents' and households' characteristics (including height, age, education, and indicators of wealth). Also, the seasonal pattern of food consumption in Tehran was analyzed. Finally, the association of child height with prenatal exposure to Ramadan was measured, controlling for seasonality and parent and household.
Results:
Ramadan associated fasting in the second trimester of gestation was associated with 0.091 age-adjusted SDs (ie, 0.60-0.67 cm) decrease in children's height at age 10 years or older. The negative association was largest in male children and was approximately 1 cm at age 12 years or older among male children.
Conclusion:
Maternal Ramadan fasting in the second trimester, the critical period for long bone development, was associated with decreased height. Exposure to ritual fasting is important because approximately 75% of all Muslim children are exposed to Ramadan in utero.
Related Concept Videos
01:10Nature and Nurture
01:30Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Diagnostic Criteria and Symptoms
To diagnose ADHD, symptoms must manifest before age 12 and be evident across multiple settings....
01:52Regression Toward the Mean