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Relationship between Gestational Weight Gain Rate Trajectory and Overweight in Offspring at Three Years of Age

He Xu1, Lei Wu2, Heng Lu1

  • 1Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China.

Childhood Obesity (Print)
|March 30, 2022
PubMed

Insights

High gestational weight gain (GWG) patterns increase childhood obesity risk. A stable high GWG rate significantly elevates offspring overweight/obesity by age 3, highlighting maternal factors in infant health.

Area of Science:

  • Maternal and Child Health
  • Pediatric Endocrinology
  • Epidemiology

Background:

  • Childhood obesity incidence is rising, linked to adult diseases.
  • Maternal factors significantly influence newborn growth and development.
  • Gestational weight gain (GWG) is a key maternal factor impacting offspring outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between gestational weight gain (GWG) rate patterns and offspring overweight/obesity at 3 years of age.
  • To identify distinct GWG rate trajectories during pregnancy.
  • To quantify the risk of childhood overweight/obesity based on maternal GWG patterns.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective cohort study of 5146 mother-child pairs.
  • Group-based Trajectory Model to identify GWG rate patterns.
  • Logistic regression analysis to assess the association between GWG patterns and offspring overweight/obesity (defined by weight-for-height Z-score at 3 years).

Main Results:

  • Three distinct GWG rate patterns were identified: low-stable, high-stable, and low-sharp.
  • The high-stable GWG pattern was associated with a significantly increased risk of offspring overweight/obesity (OR: 2.26, 95% CI: 1.31-3.90) compared to the low-stable pattern.
  • The low-sharp GWG pattern showed no significant association with offspring overweight/obesity.

Conclusions:

  • A high-stable gestational weight gain rate pattern is a significant risk factor for overweight/obesity in offspring at 3 years of age.
  • Maternal GWG patterns are crucial determinants of early childhood weight status.
  • Targeting maternal weight management during pregnancy may help prevent childhood obesity.

Keywords:
cohort studygestational weight gainodds ratiooffspring overweighttrajectory

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