Discordant time trends in maternal body size and offspring birthweight of term deliveries in France between 1972 and 2003: data from the French National Perinatal Surveys

Abstract

We investigated time trends in maternal weight before and during pregnancy and in infant birthweight in France, from 1972 to 2003, using data on singleton live term births from the representative National Perinatal Surveys of 1972, 1981, 1995, 1998 and 2003 (n=8,664, 4,494, 11,445, 12,006, 12,692, respectively). Mothers were interviewed a few days after delivery and data on delivery and the newborn were extracted from hospital records. Maternal prepregnancy weight, height, body mass index and pregnancy weight gain all increased from 1972 to 2003; however, birthweight did not show a parallel trend. After taking gestational age, maternal age, parity, country of origin, newborn gender and maternal smoking during pregnancy into account, mean birthweight increased between 1972 and 1995 but decreased thereafter and, consistently, there was an increase in small-for-gestational age (SGA) and a decrease in large-for-gestational age newborns. Further adjustment for induced delivery, an indicator of obstetric practice, did not change the results. A similar variation has been observed very recently in the US and in Germany. Further research is needed to identify the factors responsible for these discordant changes and especially the factors responsible for the recent increase in SGA since this has been shown to be associated with poorer health in later life.

Secular Trends in Birthweight

“…In France, birthweight increased until about 1995, and subsequently decreased thereafter. By 2003, mean birthweight among term births in France had decreased back to a level last seen in 1972 [35]. In Queensland, Australia, both birthweight and term macrosomia increased from 1988 to 2001, and subsequently dropped to 2005 [36].…”

La santé périnatale en France métropolitaine de 1995 à 2010. Résultats des enquêtes nationales périnatales

“…L'augmentation de l'hypotrophie persistait après prise en compte de l'évolution des caractéristiques maternelles et de la consommation de tabac [35]. Le changement de tendance actuel peut être le fait du hasard ou traduire un effet plus grand de l'augmentation de la corpulence des femmes, de la baisse de la consommation de tabac, ou d'autres facteurs, ou encore être le résultat de l'évolution de la prise en charge des retards de croissance intra-utérins.…”

Long-Term Metabolic Effects of High Birth Weight: A Critical Review of the Literature

“…Surkan et al also found an increase in infants born over 4.5 kg between 1992 and 2001 in Sweden [7]. However, recent literature revealed that birth weight presents a trend to slightly decrease the last decade despite the increase in weight gain during pregnancy [8][9][10]. With adult overweight, obesity, and diabetes mellitus (DM) increasing substantially over the last few decades in many countries, an impending increase in the prevalence of large infants is Review lar disease (CVD) [22,23].…”