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Maternal Preconception Body Mass Index and Early Childhood Nutritional Risk

Kate E Braddon1, Charles Dg Keown-Stoneman2, Cindy-Lee Dennis3

  • 1Department of Nutritional Sciences, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Child Health Evaluative Sciences, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The Journal of Nutrition
|June 25, 2023
PubMed

Insights

Maternal preconception body mass index (BMI) is linked to higher child nutritional risk scores. Focusing on maternal preconception health can improve child nutrition outcomes.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Nutrition
  • Maternal Health
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Childhood eating behaviors and food preferences may originate before conception.
  • The association between maternal preconception body mass index (BMI) and child nutritional risk factors remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between maternal preconception BMI and child nutritional risk.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal cohort study analyzing data from children aged 18 months to 5 years.
  • Maternal preconception BMI was the primary exposure.
  • Child nutritional risk was assessed using the parent-reported Nutrition Screening for Every Preschooler/Toddler (NutriSTEP) questionnaire.

Main Results:

  • A 1-unit increase in maternal preconception BMI was associated with a 0.09 increase in the NutriSTEP total score.
  • This association remained significant for both toddlers and preschoolers.
  • Higher maternal BMI correlated with increased child nutritional risk scores.

Conclusions:

  • Elevated maternal preconception BMI is associated with slightly higher child nutritional risk.
  • The preconception period presents a critical opportunity for interventions to enhance childhood nutrition.
  • Study registered on clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01869530).
Abstract

Keywords:
child eating behaviorschild nutritionchild nutritional riskmaternal body mass indexpreconception health

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