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Gestational weight gain and offspring's cognitive skills: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Jose Alberto Martínez-Hortelano1, Celia Álvarez-Bueno1,2, Iván Cavero-Redondo3,4

  • 1Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Centro de Estudios Sociosanitarios, Cuenca, Spain.

BMC Pediatrics
|November 27, 2020
PubMed

Insights

Gestational weight gain above recommendations showed a non-significant positive trend with better offspring intelligence quotient. More research is needed to clarify this association and its influencing factors.

Area of Science:

  • Perinatal Health
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Epidemiology

Background:

  • Gestational weight gain (GWG) is linked to adverse perinatal outcomes.
  • Evidence on GWG's impact on offspring cognition is inconsistent.
  • Few studies comprehensively review this association.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To systematically review and meta-analyze existing evidence.
  • To investigate the association between GWG and offspring cognitive skills.
  • To synthesize findings on intelligence quotient, language, and math skills.

Main Methods:

  • Systematic search of major scientific databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane Library).
  • Inclusion of 13 studies regardless of design or language.
  • Quality assessment using the Quality of Reporting of Observational Longitudinal Research scale.

Main Results:

  • A positive, though not statistically significant, trend was observed between GWG above recommendations and higher offspring intelligence quotient (ES 0.02, 95% CI -0.00, 0.05).
  • The meta-analysis showed minimal heterogeneity (I² = 0.00%).

Conclusions:

  • A non-significant positive association exists between excessive GWG and offspring IQ.
  • Significant variability in study results highlights the need for further research.
  • Future studies should stratify by pre-pregnancy BMI and gestational trimester.
Abstract

Keywords:
ChildrenCognitionGestationalPregnancyWeight gain

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