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Maternal body mass index and cerebral palsy in children: A systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis

Guomin Hu1, Yang Zhao2,3, Xueru Fu2,3

  • 1The Second Department of pediatrics, The First People's Hospital of Nanyang City, Nanyang, Henan, People's Republic of China.

Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology
|December 26, 2023
PubMed

Insights

Maternal obesity significantly increases the risk of cerebral palsy (CP) in children. This risk escalates with higher maternal body mass index (BMI) categories, showing a clear dose-response relationship.

Area of Science:

  • Obstetrics and Gynecology
  • Pediatrics
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Maternal obesity is a growing concern in pregnancy.
  • Existing research on maternal obesity and cerebral palsy (CP) risk presents inconsistent findings.
  • A quantitative synthesis is needed to clarify this association.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To conduct a meta-analysis and quantitatively estimate the association between maternal body mass index (BMI) and the risk of cerebral palsy (CP) in offspring.

Main Methods:

  • A systematic literature search was performed across PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases.
  • Data from 11 eligible articles, encompassing 8,407,668 participants, were extracted and analyzed.
  • Pooled relative risks (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using a random-effects model.

Main Results:

  • Maternal overweight (RR 1.25, 95% CI 1.06-1.47), obesity (RR 1.38, 95% CI 1.18-1.61), and obesity grade 3 (RR 2.27, 95% CI 1.82-2.83) were significantly associated with increased CP risk.
  • No significant association was found for maternal underweight (RR 1.11, 95% CI 0.90-1.38).
  • A positive linear dose-response relationship was observed, with a 3% increase in CP risk for each unit increase in maternal BMI.

Conclusions:

  • Maternal overweight and obesity are associated with a significantly elevated risk of cerebral palsy in offspring.
  • The risk of CP in children increases progressively with higher grades of maternal overweight and obesity.
  • A clear positive correlation exists between maternal body mass index and the risk of cerebral palsy.
Abstract

Keywords:
body mass indexcerebral palsychildrendose–responseobesity

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