Association between Prepregnancy Body Mass Index and Gestational Weight Gain with Size, Tempo, and Velocity of Infant Growth: Analysis of the Newborn Epigenetic Study Cohort

Abstract

Background: The first 1000 days of life is a critical period of infant growth that has been linked to future adult health. Understanding prenatal factors that contribute to variation in growth during this period could inform successful prevention strategies.Methods: Prenatal and maternal characteristics, including prepregnancy obesity and gestational weight gain were evaluated in relation to weight growth trajectories during the first 24 months of life using the SuperImposition by Translation and Rotation (SITAR) method, which provides estimates of infant size, timing to peak velocity, and growth velocity. The study sample included 704 mother-infant dyads from a multiethnic prebirth cohort from the Southeastern United States. The total number of weight measures was 8670 (median number per child = 14).Results: Several prenatal and maternal characteristics were linked with infant growth parameters. The primary findings show that compared to women with a prepregnancy BMI between 18 and 24.9, women with a prepregnancy BMI ‡40 had infants that were 8% larger during the first 24 months, a delayed tempo of around 9 days, and a slower velocity. Mothers who had greater than adequate gestational weight gain had infants that were 5% larger even after controlling for prepregnancy BMI and several other covariates.Conclusions: The findings contribute new data on the associations between gestational weight gain and aspects of early growth using the SITAR method, and support a growing consensus in the literature that both prepregnancy BMI and gestational weight gain relate independently to risk for greater postnatal weight growth.

Maternal pre-pregnancy obesity, offspring cord blood DNA methylation, and offspring cardiometabolic health in early childhood: an epigenome-wide association study

“…developing offspring [11]. Both pre-pregnancy obesity and excessive gestational weight gain (GWG) independently contribute to cardiometabolic function, including obesity, in offspring [3][4][5]. With 25% of conceptions occurring among obese women in the U.S [12]., maternal obesity before and during pregnancy is perhaps one of the most common intrauterine risk factors for childhood obesity for which we have limited mechanistic insights.…”

Is it appropriate to use WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study standards to assess the growth parameters of Sri Lankan babies? A single-centre cross-sectional study

“…When considering the maternal factors that may affect the growth parameters of the newborn, there was an increase of birth weight with mother’s prepregnancy weight in both genders. Studies conducted in São Paulo, 16 Southeast United States 17 and Tianjin, China, 18 showed similar results. However, a study conducted in Taiwan found that mothers whose body mass index (BMI) was 24–27 (normal) had significantly higher neonatal birth weight than those mothers with a BMI >27 and <18.5.…”

Are women in Singapore gaining weight appropriately during pregnancy: a prospective cohort study

“…The effects of excessive weight gain in pregnancy have been extensively studied and linked to adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes [1, 25, 26]. As the implications of excessive GWG could be profound and with the rising prevalence of overweight and obesity in the Southeast Asian [27, 28], understanding the characteristics of GWG and making appropriate GWG advice for overweight and obese Singaporean women prior to and during pregnancy is important.…”