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Gestational weight gain in normal weight women and offspring cardio-metabolic risk factors at 20 years of age

International Journal of Obesity volume 39, pages 671–676 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

Objective:

Limited knowledge exists on the long-term implications of maternal gestational weight gain (GWG) on offspring health. Our objective was to examine whether high GWG in normal weight women is associated with adult offspring cardio-metabolic risk factors.

Methods:

We used a cohort of 308 Danish women who gave birth in 1988–89 and whose offspring participated in a clinical examination at 20 years of age. Main outcome measures were offspring body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, weight-regulating hormones, blood lipids and glucose metabolism. Associations were assessed using multivariable linear and logistic regression models.

Results:

A weak positive association was observed between GWG during the first 30 weeks and offspring anthropometry. Each 1-kg increase in maternal GWG was associated with 0.1-kg m−2 higher (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.01, 0.2) offspring BMI and 10% (95% CI: 0.1%, 20%) higher odds of offspring overweight at the age of 20 years, with similar associations observed in both sexes. However, sex differences were observed for the association between maternal GWG and specific cardio-metabolic risk factors. Hence, a 1-kg increase in GWG was associated with 3.4% (95% CI; 0.8, 6.0%) higher homeostasis model assessment-estimated insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), 3.7% (95% CI: 1.4%, 6.2%) higher insulin and 10.7% (95% CI: 5.7%, 15.9%) higher leptin levels in male offspring. These associations were not observed in females, which may partly be explained by more frequent reports of dieting and physical exercise at follow-up among female offspring.

Conclusions:

In normal-weight women, high GWG may have modest long-term implications on offspring cardio-metabolic risk factors at adult age.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the financial support of the Danish Council for Strategic Research. The present study was supported by the Danish Council for Strategic Research (Grant no.: 09-067124 (Centre for Fetal Programming), 2101-07-0025 (Danish Centre for Obesity Research) and 2101-06-0005).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unit for Nutrition Research, Landspitali University Hospital and Faculty of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland

    L Hrolfsdottir & T I Halldorsson

  2. Department of Public Health, Section for Epidemiology, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

    D Rytter & B H Bech

  3. Department of Epidemiology Research, Center for Fetal Programming, Statens Serum Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark

    S F Olsen, E Maslova & T I Halldorsson

  4. Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

    S F Olsen

  5. Department of Pediatrics, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark,

    T B Henriksen

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  1. L Hrolfsdottir
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  2. D Rytter
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  3. S F Olsen
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Correspondence to L Hrolfsdottir.

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Hrolfsdottir, L., Rytter, D., Olsen, S. et al. Gestational weight gain in normal weight women and offspring cardio-metabolic risk factors at 20 years of age. Int J Obes 39, 671–676 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2014.179

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2014.179

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