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Pre-pregnancy BMI is associated with offspring body composition in adulthood before adiposity-related disorders: a

Ilana Eshriqui1, Angélica Marques Martins Valente2, Luciana Dias Folchetti3

  • 1Graduation Program in Public Health Nutrition, School of Public Health, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.

Public Health Nutrition
|December 28, 2020
PubMed

Insights

Maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) is linked to higher offspring body fat, fat mass index, and visceral adipose tissue. These findings highlight the importance of managing maternal weight to prevent obesity transmission across generations.

Area of Science:

  • Human Health and Nutrition
  • Reproductive Health
  • Obesity Research

Background:

  • Maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) is a critical factor influencing offspring health outcomes.
  • Understanding the long-term effects of maternal BMI on adult offspring body composition is essential for public health strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and offspring body composition in adulthood.
  • To determine if maternal pre-pregnancy BMI is associated with specific body compartments like fat mass and skeletal muscle mass in adult offspring.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective cohort study involving 150 healthy non-pregnant women.
  • Maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and offspring life aspects were self-reported.
  • Offspring body composition, including body fat percentage, fat mass index (FMI), android-to-gynoid fat ratio, visceral adipose tissue (VAT), and appendicular skeletal muscle mass index (ASMI), was measured using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA).
  • Linear regression models, adjusted according to directed acyclic graphs (DAGs), were employed for analysis.

Main Results:

  • Maternal pre-pregnancy BMI was significantly associated with increased offspring body fat percentage (β = 0.31), FMI (β = 0.17), android-to-gynoid ratio (β = 0.01), and VAT (β = 0.09).
  • No significant association was found between maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and offspring total bone density or content.
  • A direct association with ASMI was observed but lost significance when participants with underweight mothers were excluded.

Conclusions:

  • Maternal pre-pregnancy BMI is directly associated with offspring's general and visceral adiposity.
  • The findings suggest that maternal adiposity does not significantly impact offspring bone mass.
  • These results underscore the importance of managing maternal adiposity to mitigate the intergenerational transmission of obesity.
Abstract

Keywords:
Body compositionOffspringPre-gestational BMIVisceral adipose tissue

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