Table 1.
Human studies in infancy and childhood evaluating the impact of maternal obesity on cardiometabolic outcomes.
| Ref. | N. subjects | M/F | Age | Main results |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [24] | 753 | 393/360 | Neonates | mppBMI and GWG positively associated with glucose, and negatively associated with HDL-C and the glucose-to-insulin ratio of neonates at delivery, irrespective of neonatal adiposity |
| [17] | 4496 | 2317/2179 | Neonates AND 2–20 years | Excessive GWG associated with increased risk of LGA at delivery, and increased risk of overweight during childhood |
| [21] | 948 | 496/452 | Neonates (at birth) AND 4–6 years | Excessive GWG associated with greater fat mass in the neonatal period as well as at 6 years |
| [20] | 482 | 247/235 | Neonates AND 5 years | Excessive GWG (>18 Kg) or excessive mppBMI associated with neonatal fatness and with overweight in early childhood |
| [15] | 1110 | n.a. | 3 years | Higher probability of developing overweight in childhood with the combination of the following risk factors: excessive GWG, smoking, inadequate daily sleep in infancy (<12 h/day) and breastfeeding duration <12 months |
| [18] | 1044 | 530/514 | 3 years | Excessive GWG associated with higher BMI z score, higher sum of subscapular and triceps skinfold thickness, higher SBP, and higher risk of overweight at 3 years old |
| [7] | 179 | 93/86 | 6–11 years |
LGA increased the risk of metabolic syndrome at 11 years Maternal obesity (pregnancy BMI > 27 kg/m2) increased the risk of metabolic syndrome between 6 and 11 years |
| [6] | 751 | 384/367 | 8 years | Total-to-HDL-C ratio at 8 years positively associated with maternal pre-pregnancy obesity and rapid infant weight gain |
| [8] | 89 | 37/52 | 6–11 years | mppBMI > 30 kg/m2 was the strongest predictor of obesity and excess body fat mass in childhood which, in turn, were characterized by metabolic dysfunctions (higher SBP, lower HDL-C and higher insulin resistance) |
| [9] | 5154 | 2532/2622 | 9 years |
Greater mppBMI associated with greater adiposity, SBP and DBP at 9 years Greater GWG associated with greater BMI, waist circumference, fat mass, SBP and lower HDL-C at 9 years |
| [10] | 5908 | 2949/2960 | 6 years |
Higher early pregnancy GWG (until 13.4 weeks) associated with higher childhood BMI, fat mass and SBP and a clustering of cardio-metabolic risk factors Higher mid pregnancy GWG (from 13.4 to 29 weeks) associated with higher childhood BMI, fat mass and SBP Higher late pregnancy GWG (from 29 to 39 weeks) not associated with any childhood cardiometabolic outcome |
| [11] | 4871 | 2444/2427 | 6 years |
Higher mppBMI and higher paternal BMI associated with higher BMI, fat mass, SBP and insulin levels at 6 years mppBMI showed a stronger association than paternal BMI |
| [12] | 313 | 172/141 | 10 years |
Excessive mppBMI in combination with excessive GWG associated with increased BMI, HOMA-IR and fat mass (visceral and subcutaneous) in childhood These effects were mitigated in women with adequate GWG |
| [22] | 4091 | n.a. | 9–11 years | Maternal and paternal BMI positively associated with offspring fat mass |
| [16] | 1739 | 945/794 | 2–12 years |
Excessive GWG ( ≥ 20.43 kg) in combination with maternal pre-pregnancy overweight or obesity associated with early onset overweight (at 2 years) Maternal pre-pregnancy overweight or obesity associated with late onset overweight (after 6 years) |
| [23] | 1090 | 542/548 | 6–10 years |
mppBMI positively associated with total fat, HOMA-IR, and SBP Higher GWG increased the risk of greater adiposity in childhood |
| [25] | 1459 | 770/689 | 5–6 years | Higher mppBMI associated with higher waist-to-height ratio and higher SBP-to-DBP, regardless of post-natal weight gain |
| [19] | 777 | 370/407 | 4–20 years |
High mppBMI (≥ 30 kg/m2) associated with increased risk of obesity in childhood, adolescence and early adulthood High GWG, combined with low duration of breast feeding and smoking during pregnancy, associated with increased risk of obesity in adolescence and early adulthood |
| [26] | 905 | 7 years | Excessive GWG associated with greater BMI and insulin resistance in childhood | |
| [14] | 10,226 | 51/49% | 7 years | Excessive GWG associated with increased risk of overweight in childhood |
| [13] | 8494 | 4205/4289 | 2–4 years | Maternal obesity in the early pregnancy associated with an increased risk of obesity in childhood |
Study design. All are prospective cohort studies, except refs. [13] and [14] that are retrospective cohort studies.
BMI body mass index, DBP diastolic blood pressure, HDL-C HDL-cholesterol, GWG gestational weight gain, HOMA-IR homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance, LGA large for gestational age, mppBMI maternal pre-pregnancy BMI, SBP systolic blood pressure, total-C total-cholesterol.