Table 1.
Maternal and child characteristics according to sex. Faroese Cohort 1996–2001, (N=520)1.
| Girls (n=247) | Boys (n=273) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percentile | Percentile | ||||||||
| Characteristics | Median | 5th | 75th | 95th | Median | 5th | 75th | 95th | P |
| Metabolic markers (ng/mL) | |||||||||
| Insulin | 162 | 1.4 | 401 | 1,211 | 133 | 1.2 | 406 | 1,221 | 0.33 |
| Leptin | 1,650 | 483 | 2753 | 6,430 | 889 | 307 | 1,579 | 3054 | <0.001 |
| Prenatal POPs (µg/g lipid) | |||||||||
| PCBs | 1.2 | 0.4 | 2.0 | 3.7 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 2.0 | 4.2 | 0.32 |
| DDE | 0.6 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 2.3 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 2.2 | 0.24 |
| HCB | 0.04 | 0.02 | 0.05 | 0.1 | 0.04 | 0.02 | 0.05 | 0.09 | 0.96 |
| BMI 5 y (kg/m2) | 16 | 14.1 | 16.9 | 18.7 | 15.9 | 14 | 16.6 | 18.1 | 0.56 |
| Maternal age at child’s birth (y) | 30 | 21 | 33 | 37 | 30 | 21 | 33 | 38 | 0.19 |
| Maternal pre-pregnancy BMI (kg/m2) | 23.4 | 18.8 | 26.3 | 30.5 | 22.8 | 18.8 | 25.5 | 31.2 | 0.26 |
| Parity (n) | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0.1 |
1
Anova and Pearson chi-squared tests. PCB and DDE concentration in maternal serum (µg/g lipid). The PCB concentration was based on the sum of PCB congeners 138, 153, and 180. HCB in maternal milk (µg/g lipid). Non-fasting serum concentrations of insulin and leptin (ng/mL) measured at 5 years of age. PCBs, polychlorinated biphenyls; DDE, dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene; HCB, hexachlorobenzene. At 5 y of age 11% of boys and 14% of girls were overweight and 1.4% of boys and 3% of girls were obese (IOTF definition); 31.5 % of the mothers were overweight and 7.9 % obese (WHO definition).