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Gestational weight gain and adiposity, fat distribution, metabolic profile, and blood pressure in offspring: the IDEFICS project

International Journal of Obesity volume 37, pages 914–919 (2013)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Objective:

To investigate the association between gestational weight gain (GWG) and total adiposity, body fat distribution, blood pressure (BP), and metabolic profile in offspring.

Design:

Cross-sectional study.

Methods:

Body mass index (BMI), waist, subscapular and tricipital skinfolds, and BP were measured and blood samples drawn in 12 775 children (aged 2–9 years) from the IDEFICS cohort. Overweight/obesity was defined by IOTF criteria. Parents filled in a questionnaire investigating child and familiar medical history and lifestyle. A section was dedicated to pregnancy history (including GWG).

Results:

Anthropometric indices linearly and significantly increased across GWG tertiles (BMI z-score: tertile I =0.08, 0.03–0.13; tertile II =0.16, 0.12–0.21; tertile III =0.34, 0.28–0.40, P<0.01, mean, 95% CI) by analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) adjusted by child sex, age and practice of sport, birth weight, current maternal BMI, parental education, gestational age, age at delivery, alcohol and smoking during pregnancy, maternal diabetes mellitus, gestational hypertension, and breastfeeding duration. After inclusion of BMI z-score among covariates, HbA1c significantly increased across tertiles (P=0.009) while no differences were observed for BP, serum insulin, HOMA index, blood glucose and lipids. The adjusted risk of overweight/obesity significantly increased by 14 and 22% in tertiles II and III respectively, in comparison with tertile I by logistic regression analysis controlling for covariates.

Conclusion:

Maternal GWG is an independent predictor of total adiposity and body fat distribution in offspring during infancy. Exposure to perinatal factors should be taken into account for early prevention of overweight and obesity.

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Acknowledgements

We sincerely wish to thank the parents and children, who participated in the study. This work was done as part of the IDEFICS Study (www.idefics.eu). We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the European Community within the Sixth RTD Framework Programme Contract No. 016181 (FOOD).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Epidemiology & Population Genetics, Institute of Food Sciences, CNR, Avellino, Italy

    M Dello Russo, G Barba & A Siani

  2. Department of Epidemiological Methods and Etiologic Research, Bremen Institute for Prevention Research and Social Medicine (BIPS), University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany

    W Ahrens & A Reeske

  3. Department of Public Health/Department of Movement and Sport Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    T De Vriendt

  4. Department of Paediatrics, Queen Silvia Children Hospital, Göteborg University, Göteborg, Sweden

    S Marild

  5. Department of Paediatrics, University of Pécs Medical School, Pécs, Hungary

    D Molnar

  6. GENUD Research Group, EU Ciencas de la Salud, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain

    L A Moreno

  7. National Institute for Health Development, Tallinn, Estonia

    T Veidebaum

  8. Research & Education Foundation of Child Health, Strovolos, Cyprus

    Y A Kourides

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  1. M Dello Russo
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on behalf of the IDEFICS Consortium

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Correspondence to G Barba.

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Dello Russo, M., Ahrens, W., De Vriendt, T. et al. Gestational weight gain and adiposity, fat distribution, metabolic profile, and blood pressure in offspring: the IDEFICS project. Int J Obes 37, 914–919 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2013.35

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2013.35

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