Índice de masa corporal materno pregestacional, aumento de peso gestacional y epilepsia en la descendencia: un...

This study investigated whether maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and non-optimal gestational weight gain (GWG) are associated with epilepsy in the offspring.

We studied 3,816,438 children born between 2007 and 2015 ascertained from the California birth records.

Childhood epilepsy was ascertained using the diagnostic records from the California's Department of Developmental Services.

We used generalized linear models to estimate the risk ratio (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for childhood epilepsy according to maternal pre-pregnancy BMI (kg/m²) and non-optimal GWG (kg), adjusting for confounders. We compared maternal pre-pregnancy overweight (25 ≤ BMI <30) or obese (BMI ≥ 30) to normal weight (18.5 ≤ BMI <25) as the reference. Further, we compared maternal gestational weight loss, insufficient or excessive GWG, to sufficient GWG as the reference, classified using the Institute of Medicine standard. Analyses among term births only were performed to address shorter cumulative times for weight gain among preterm deliveries.

Maternal pre-pregnancy overweight (RR:1.12, 95% CI: 1.02-1.22) and obesity (RR:1.31, 95% CI: 1.20-1.44) were associated with higher risk of childhood epilepsy in the full cohort, with similar results observed among term births. No association was observed for maternal insufficient or excessive GWG and childhood epilepsy. Gestational weight loss (RR: 1.46, 95% CI: 1.15-1.86) was associated with childhood epilepsy among obese and overweight mothers, but the association became null among term births.

While maternal pre-pregnancy overweight and obesity were modestly associated with childhood epilepsy in California, no clear pattern emerged for maternal non-optimal gestational weight gain.