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Increased Gestational Weight Gain is Associated with a Higher Risk of Offspring Adiposity Before Five Years of Age: A
Shuang Zhang1,2, Nan Li1, Weiqin Li1
1Tianjin Women's and Children's Health Center, Tianjin, People's Republic of China.
Insights
Excessive gestational weight gain, particularly in early pregnancy, increases a child's risk of adiposity before age five. This finding highlights the importance of monitoring weight gain during pregnancy for long-term child health.
Area of Science:
- Maternal and Child Health
- Pediatric Endocrinology
- Public Health Nutrition
Background:
- Maternal weight gain during pregnancy is a critical factor influencing offspring's long-term health.
- Childhood adiposity is a growing public health concern with potential lifelong implications.
- Understanding the specific impact of gestational weight gain timing on offspring adiposity is crucial for targeted interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between gestational weight gain and offspring adiposity up to five years of age.
- To determine if the timing of excessive gestational weight gain (e.g., first half of pregnancy) influences offspring adiposity risk.
- To analyze the relationship between gestational weight gain and Body Mass Index (BMI) Z-scores in early childhood.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective cohort study utilizing data from the Tianjin mother-child cohort.
- Offspring outcomes included BMI Z-score and adiposity prevalence from 0.5 to 5 years.
- Multivariate regression analysis adjusted for key maternal and child factors, including prepregnancy BMI and infant feeding mode.
Main Results:
- Gestational weight gain was associated with offspring BMI Z-scores from 1 to 5 years, with the most significant impact observed in the first half of pregnancy.
- Excessive gestational weight gain correlated with a higher prevalence of childhood adiposity, irrespective of normal prepregnancy BMI.
- Excessive weight gain in the first half of pregnancy significantly elevated the risk of childhood obesity at ages one and three.
Conclusions:
- Excessive gestational weight gain during the first half of pregnancy is linked to an increased risk of preschool adiposity in offspring.
- This highlights the critical window of early pregnancy for managing maternal weight to mitigate childhood obesity risks.
- Findings underscore the need for guidelines and interventions focused on appropriate gestational weight gain, especially in the initial stages of pregnancy.
Objective:
We aim to investigate the influence of weight gain during pregnancy on the risk of offspring adiposity before five years old.
Methods:
We retrospectively collected health information from the Tianjin mother-child cohort. Offspring outcome was BMI Z-score and prevalence of childhood adiposity from 0.5-5 years old. Gestational weight gain was analyzed using continuous and categorical variables evaluated by the IOM guidelines. Multivariate analysis adjusted maternal age, prepregnancy BMI, maternal height, smoking, cesarean section, gestational age at birth, birth weight, birth length, and mode of infant feeding during 0-6 months.
Results:
Gestational weight gain contributed to offspring's BMI Z-score from 1-5 years old, and the effect was most obvious in the first half of pregnancy (multivariate analysis, at 1, 2, 2.5, 3, 4, and 5 years of age: β 0.011, 95% CI 0.008-0.014; β 0.017, 95% CI 0.015-0.020; β 0.005, 95%CI 0.002-0.008; β 0.018, 95% CI 0.015-0.021; β 0.014, 95% CI 0.009-0.020; β 0.013, 95% CI 0.005-0.021). Excessive weight gain was associated with a higher prevalence of offspring adiposity before five years, even if prepregnancy BMI is normal. Multivariate regression analysis further confirmed that excessive weight gain during the first half of pregnancy significantly increased the risk of childhood obesity at aged one and three (AOR 1.083, 95% CI 1.003-1.169; AOR 1.158, 95% CI 1.036-1.293).
Conclusion:
Offspring have a higher risk of preschool adiposity when gestational weight gain was excessive during the first half of pregnancy.
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