Influence of post-partum BMI change on childhood obesity and energy intake

Abstract

IntroductionAssociation between parent’s Body Mass Index (BMI) and their children, has been widely documented. Individual, familiar and structural factors play a role in this relation. We analyzed the association between maternal BMI change during the first year post-partum and their offspring’s growth-trajectories and energy intake in their first five years of life.ObjectiveCompare growth-trajectories and children’s caloric intake according to post-partum mother´s BMI classification.MethodsThe anthropometric assessment was taken in 935 mother-child pairs along the study period. Mothers were classified into four groups according to their BMI-trajectories in the post-partum. Children’s weight for height z-scores (WHZ) was compared among groups using random-effects regression models. A longitudinal comparison of children’s caloric intake by the maternal group was carried out.ResultsAt 42 months of age, infants from mothers that remained overweight during the first year post-partum had, on average, 0.61 SD higher WHZ than those from mothers who remained in a recommended BMI group (R-BMI) in the same period. At 60 months of age, children´s prevalence of obesity was almost twice in the maternal overweight group vs R-BMI group (14.2% and 7.3% respectively). Chances for a child of having an over caloric intake were 36.5% (95% IC: 6.6%, 74.8%) and significantly higher among children from overweight mothers than those from R-BMI mothers. The difference in children’s WHZ trajectory remained significant after adjusting for caloric intake, suggesting that contextual factors play a role in shaping children’s obesity. A concurrent ethnographic study with the study subjects provides suggestions as to what these factors might be, including changes in the food landscape.ConclusionChildren from overweight mothers tended to have a more caloric diet yielding a higher propensity to obesity. Contextual factors such as food landscape might contribute to childhood obesity beyond having an overweight mother. Pregnancy and post-partum is a window of opportunity for interventions to decrease the incidence of children’s overweight.

Weight gain trajectories patterns from pregnancy to early postpartum: identifying women at risk and timing to prevent weight regain

“…The relation between fat mass accumulation during pregnancy and postpartum with cardiovascular risk factors in later years was also reported in women from Project Viva and Danish National Birth Cohort [23,24]. Postpartum maternal weight change trajectories are also associated with children with higher weight for height and energy intake among the Mexican population [41].…”

Weight gain trajectories patterns from pregnancy to early postpartum: identifying women at risk and timing to prevent weight regain

“…The relation between fat mass accumulation during pregnancy and postpartum and cardiovascular risk factors in later years was also reported in women from Project Viva and Danish National Birth Cohort [10,11]. Postpartum maternal weight change trajectories are also associated with children with higher weight for height and energy intake among the Mexican population [41].…”

Prenatal lead exposure: associations with growth and anthropometry in early childhood in a UK observational birth cohort study

“…These findings of positive associations could reflect variation in the population prevalence of overweight and obesity, such that high background prevalence of overweight and obesity might mask adverse effects of prenatal B-Pb on anthropometric variables. However, overweight and obesity were prevalent both in children in the ALSPAC cohort 40 and in the Mexican cohort 41 .…”